


Rory and Logan Reunion AU (pre-revival)

by luneetetoiles



Category: Gilmore Girls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2018-12-20 07:41:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luneetetoiles/pseuds/luneetetoiles
Summary: Okay, I know Gilmore Girls is something of a dying fandom, but Rory and Logan are actually one of my favorite couples ever and I didn't really like the way Gilmore Girls depicted Logan and Rory's relationship in the revival, so here's my take. I got inspiration from these posts:https://archiveofourown.org/works/11138109/chapters/24852558http://dollsome-does-tumblr.tumblr.com/post/161142040403/concept-the-revival-except-rory-and-logan-are





	1. Floating

Three years after she leaves for Obama’s campaign trail, Rory begins to float. After the journalism recession in 2099, she begins to work as a freelance writer. This whole non-committal thing is not her style, and without a real, steady job, she feels lost. But, amid her floating, she ends getting to work at Condé Nast for a few weeks to write a few articles, but she wasn’t technically employed by them. 

“Attention everyone.” Says the man standing at the front of the room, Robert Sauerberg himself, president of Condé Nast. The whole staff had been called into a meeting, but no one had been given specifics. There had been some rumors going around that the company was being bought by someone, but no one knew for sure. Rory was surprised she had gotten called into the meeting, as she was only a freelance writer. When she asked why she had to be in attendance, she simply got waved off and was just told to come. “I have some news. We are merging with The Huntzberger Publishing Company-“ Rory’s breath hitched as chatter filled the room. “Quiet please!” Mr. Sauerberg says loudly, which silences everyone. “While Huntzberger Publishing Company has had some difficulties in the past, they now have an even better reputation than before the recession, which nobody thought was possible, and I think merging with them is a wise decision at the time. Now, there will be a gala or banquet if you will, to announce this merge and we are expecting all of you to attend, hence everyone’s presence being needed at this meeting. Even our freelance writers and interns will be required to attend. It is of course, a black-tie event and it will be hosted two weeks from now at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott. That is all, and this meeting will also end our day. See you all tomorrow.” 

After the meeting, Rory began to collect her things to go back to her Brooklyn apartment she shared with another girl, Holly, who was also a freelance writer doing some work at Condé Nast. It was extremely convenient that Rory had found someone who was in the same boat as her, and Holly was nice, but she was no Lane. “Hey Rory ready to go?” Holly asked, moving swiftly through the crowd towards her friend. Looking down to make sure she had all of her stuff, Rory looked up at Holly “yup. Let’s go.” She said, and the two began to make their way out of the building. “So what did you think of the meeting?” Holly asked, once they were outside. “I mean it won’t really affect us that much, since I’m not sure how long I’m going to be working here, but I kind of wish I could get out of the gala.” Rory says checking her phone as the pair headed to the subway station. “Really? I love an opportunity to dress up, plus I would love to meet Mitchum Huntzberger. I mean I know they had some trouble with their company back in 2007, but they’re doing so great now and he’s a journalism legend.” Holly rambled and Rory huffed. “Mitchum is an ass.” She said under her breath. “What’s that?” Holly asks. “Oh nothing, I’ve just heard Mitchum isn’t the nicest guy.” She said. For some reason, she didn’t want to reveal to her friend her history with the Huntzbergers. “Do you know who exactly is going to oversee us once we merge?” Rory asks, trying to sound innocent about her intentions. “Umm I’m not sure, but we could probably find out.” Holly replies, looking over at Rory before glancing up to see when their train would arrive. “Why? Do you have any relationship with the Huntzbergers?” Holly asks, now intrigued. Rory was torn, she didn’t really want to lie to her friend about her former relationship with the prized Huntzberger son, but to tell Holly would be to open up a very, very big can of worms. Deciding to tell the truth, she responds: “I may or may not have had a fling with Mitchum’s son when we went to Yale together.” She said immediately regretting her decision. “What?!” Holly exclaims. “Okay but I don’t even know if he works for his dad anymore, the last I saw him he was taking a job in California, and that was two years ago.” Rory says, feeling a little sad to be thinking of Logan. “Was your so-called fling with this boy serious?” Holly asks, seeing some sort of sadness in Rory’s downcast eyes. Now Rory really didn’t want to tell the truth, but she felt like it needed to be done. She had barely told anyone about almost being Logan’s fiancée. She sighed, “how serious is a marriage proposal and a prospective house in California with an avocado tree?” She asked, and Holly’s eyes widened. “Please don’t tell anyone in the company. I’m over him and I don’t even plan on talking to him at this stupid gala thing if he’s there. We left things on really bad terms and I don’t want to revisit that.” She said, and Holly nodded, feeling sad for her friend, who despite her words, still seemed to be hung up on the boy. 

Once Rory and Holly stepped off the train at their station, Holly asked “Chinese for dinner sound good?” Rory nodded her head in response and the two walked the rest of the way to their apartment. As soon as they got home, Holly ordered them their usual, and Rory changed into her pajamas and tried to get a head start on an article she was trying to start. Once she got off the phone, Holly did the same, and after a few minutes Holly’s questions began. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but can I ask you about Little Huntzberger?” Rory laughed, “yeah sure. Also, Logan would probably punch you if you called him Little Huntzberger.” She said emphasizing Logan’s name, then laughing. “I’m sorry I didn’t know his name! I haven’t googled the Huntzberger’s in a while.” Holly says, and Rory laughs in response, thinking of the time she told Logan she had googled his father. “Okay. Go ahead. What do you want to know?” She said, closing her computer and turning towards her roommate, before Holly did the same. “Umm, I guess we’ll start with: how long did you date?” Holly asked. “Well we did this weird friends with benefits, open relationship type thing that I hated, but then he told me he could be my boyfriend, and after that, we dated for about three years, with a small break that I didn’t really know we were on and then I break that I did know we were on because I insinuated it, but that’s not important. But that was like my first adult relationship and we both know how well those have being going since that…” Rory responds, beginning to ramble a bit. “Okay next question. I’m sorry I have to ask this, but did you love him?” Holly asks, feeling bad about asking it. “It’s okay, I’ll answer your questions. But, yeah I did love him.” She says, playing with the sleeves of her Yale sweatshirt. “How did you meet?” “Me and my friend, Marty, who knew Logan, were together and we ran into Logan and his friends and Marty introduced me and we were also on the paper together.” Holly nodded to Rory’s response. “So have you looked him up since you two broke up?” “What?! No!” Rory exclaims. “Seriously? You dated the boy for three years and you let him go just like that!?” Holly exclaims back and suddenly opens her computer and pulls up Facebook. “Holly no!” Rory cries, shutting the computer. “Yes, Rory. Don’t you want to know if you’re going to see him at this gala and aren’t you at all curious as to what he’s been doing?” Rory sighed. “I guess so.” She responds and sighs once more. Moving her hands to show a moving motion, she gives Holly permission. “Proceed.” She says, and Holly grins.

“L-O-G-A-N H-U-N-“ Holly says as she types in the Facebook search bar. “Oh get on with it.” Rory says, shoving Holly’s shoulder lightly. Holly chuckles lightly as she presses the search bar and clicks on the first and only Logan Huntzberger that shows up. “Okay let’s see what do we have here?” Holly asks as the page loads. “Rory! You did not tell me he was such a cutie!” Holly says, and Rory laughs, but has something of a sad smile in reaction to seeing Logan’s smiling face on Holly’s screen. Changing the subject, Holly dives into the personal information so nicely presented when you look at someone’s page. “So it doesn’t say if he’s single or not. Umm Yale class of 2006, but you already knew that.” Holly says, inspecting Logan’s Facebook page that covered her tiny laptop screen. “He works at Huntzberger Publishing Company, so he will definitely be at the party.” Rory says, pulling on the sleeves of her sweatshirt again. “Let’s look through his pictures and see what Mr. Huntzberger has been up to.” Holly says, clicking on the ‘Photos of Logan’ album first. 

After about a minute of Rory and Holly pouring over the pictures of Logan, their food arrives. Holly goes to pay the delivery man as Rory continues scrolling. There are some pictures of him with Colin, Finn, and Robert, as well as some other kids from Yale that Rory recognizes, but some she has no idea who they are. But then, Rory quickly reaches 2007. Holly arrives back to the couch where Rory is looking at the dozens of pictures of them together. “I forgot about these pictures. They’re on my Facebook too. There’s ones my mom took and tagged him in, and some Finn or Colin took, but there’s so many. I forgot there was so many.” “That’s one big cake, sister. Birthday?” Holly asks, looking at the pictures Rory couldn’t take her eyes off. “Yeah my grandparents are really into parties and it was really over the top.” Rory said, reaching down to grab her food. “Jeez Gilmore you’re popular on this boy’s page.” Holly says, finally reaching the bottom of Logan’s tagged pictures, which causes Rory gives a slight smile. Rory notices that the last tagged picture is of them at the Life and Death Brigade and Holly notices the picture too. “Ummm Rory is that you jumping off that platform?” Holly asks, eyebrows raised high. Rory laughs and covers her mouth then finishes swallowing. “It was this secret society at Yale called the Life and Death Brigade. They hold these big fancy parties where they do a crazy stunt, and Logan had me jump.” She said, smiling at the memory. “Okay well that makes perfect sense!” Holly says, her voice dripping with sarcasm and Rory laughs. “You had to be there I guess.” She says. “Well I think that’s enough stalking of Little Huntzberger for tonight.” Holly says, closing the tab and then the computer. That night as Rory was trying to sleep, she looked over at the rocket ship sitting on her windowsill and tried to convince herself she wasn’t still in love with Logan Huntzberger.


	2. The Gala

“Holly are you almost ready?” Rory shouts to her roommate from outside the bathroom door. “Yes! Two more seconds!” Holly says, and Rory hears the music in the room stop and the sink run. “Finally. Now we can go.” Rory says, closing her book and stuffing it in her purse. “Really Rory?” Holly says, exasperated. “Yes! Number one rule, always bring a book!” Rory says, thinking of her first Chilton formal as they walk out the door. “What is the party going to be really dull?” Holly asks and Rory just smiles and shakes her head in response. “So are you ready to see Little Huntzberger?” Holly asks, once they’re in their cab towards the hotel. “One, we don’t even know if he’s going to be there and two, you really have got to stop calling him Little Huntzberger.” Rory says, looking back down at her book. “Well he better be there because you look hot, and it’s not just because I picked that dress out.” Rory looks up and sticks her tongue out at her friend. “I don’t think you chose this dress, I’m pretty sure that was my mom.” Rory says, a couple seconds later, processing Holly’s comment. “Ugh don’t remind me of the goddess Lorelai. She has much better taste than me, but don’t tell her I told you that.” Holly says, causing Rory to laugh. Much to Rory’s chagrin, they arrive at the venue rather quickly, and she is soon being carted behind Holly. 

After about an hour of mingling with the large crowd, there was still no sign of Logan. Rory had caught a glimpse of Mitchum, but she was planning to avoid him the whole night. She’s talking to some of her friends in the company when she catches a glimpse of blonde hair, and she can hear his voice from a few tables over. 

“Excuse me gentlemen” Logan says as he catches a glance at what he thinks could be Rory Gilmore. He hasn’t seen her in almost two years, but her image is still engraved in his brain. Walking over to her group, he takes a deep breath. “Hey Ace.” He says, and it is in fact her. 

She tries to ignore the knot in her stomach as she sees him approach. She didn’t even know if he would recognize her, let alone talk to her. “Hey Ace” a familiar voice says from behind her. Turning around, she takes a deep breath. She could do this. Everything was okay.

“Well if it isn’t the butt-faced miscreant himself.” She responds, giving her ex-boyfriend a small smile. Even though they didn’t leave things off well, she still tried to use comedy to hide the hurt she was actually feeling. Logan gives her that stupid, yet charming grin of his. “Are we still using that nickname? It’s not very loving and I can’t believe you remember calling me that.” He says, smiling again. “I think it’s one of your finer nicknames.” She says, smiling again. “Excuse me. I’ll be back in a bit.” Rory says, turning to her group of friends.

“Was that?” “Mithcum Huntzberger’s son? I think it was.” Rory’s colleagues say, once she and Logan have turned to walk away. “Do any of you know how they know each other and, also why he is totally in love with her?” One of the girls asks before taking a sip of her drink that was on the table. “Didn’t he go to Yale?” Mark asks. Holly was resisting the urge to spill to her and Rory’s friends. She knew everything but she had also promised not to tell anyone. “There was a tiny article about him going back to his dad’s company a little while ago. I only saw it because my boyfriend wrote the article.” Jessica pipes up. “It said he was a Yale alum. He and Rory must have met each other there.” Jessica said again, remembering what the article said. “Holly do you know anything about Rory and hottie Huntzberger?” Micaela asks. “I mean you’re her roommate. She must’ve mentioned something.” She finished. “No I don’t think so. Sorry I’m just as much in the dark as all of you are.” Holly responds, lying to their faces. 

“So Rory Gilmore.” Logan says once they’re in a more secluded part of the venue. “Logan Huntzberger.” She says, sighing a little. “You look beautiful.” He says, glancing down, and Rory gives a small smile. “So are you working for Condé Nast now?” He asks, looking back up at Rory. “Not really. I’m doing some freelance writing with them at the moment, but I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Attendance was required, so here I am.” She says, shrugging her shoulders a bit. “Are you sure you didn’t come just to see me?” He asks, smiling at her. “Okay don’t be so conceded! I did not even know that you worked for your dad again, much less that you were going to be at this event!” She exclaims, but Logan can tell her remark was mostly satirical. “Okay, okay, I get it. But, to be fair, I didn’t know what you were doing either.” He says, holding his hands up like he was innocent. “I’m glad you’re here. You look great and it’s been too long.” He says, looking down again. He was losing his usual confidence. “It has been too long, and you know we left things on such bad terms and I-I missed you.” Rory responded, voice getting small towards the end of her response as her eyes flited past Logan. “I missed you too, Ace. So much.” Logan responds, looking Rory in the eyes again, and Rory gives a small smile. “Here. We need to get together and catch up for real. Somewhere not here. But feel free to wear that again.” He said, laughing a little and glancing again at her black dress. “I would like that.” She said smiling bigger. “Okay well here’s my number-“ “Aren’t you forward!” She says, and he laughs. “I still have your number Logan. Unless it changed I didn’t delete it.” She said, biting her lip. “Well okay then. Do you live in New York now?” He asks. “Yup. I have an apartment in Brooklyn.” She says. “Well do you want to get dinner in Brooklyn tomorrow?” He asks. “Tomorrow?! Wow Huntzberger! You really want to take me on a date.” She says laughing and Logan scoffed, but then laughed. “Always with the sense of humor Gilmore. So tomorrow? I’ll pick you up at 7?” “Tomorrow at 7 sounds perfect. I’ll text you the address.” She says. “See you then Ace.” He says, and kisses her on the cheek and walks back to the group he was with.

Rory walks back to Holly, Jessica, Mark, and her other friends, still smiling over her interaction with Logan. It went a lot better than she could have ever hoped, and Logan seemed, and looked good. “Rory how do you know Mitchum Huntzberger’s son?” Mark asks, once she had arrived back to the group. “Oh we went to Yale together.” She said, taking a sip of her drink. “Told you!” Jessica says. “How did you know that?” She asks, looking suspiciously at Holly who just shook her head back. “My boyfriend wrote an article about your boyfriend going back to Huntzberger Publishing.” Jessica said, giving Rory a sly smile. “One, Logan is not my boyfriend and two, when did your boyfriend write this said article?” She asks, confused, yet intrigued. “Oh he works for the tiniest newspaper out in New Jersey, you’ve probably never heard of it. But back to my first point. He sure looks like your boyfriend. He looked like he was in love with you.” Rory blushed and looked down a bit, “I promise you Logan is not in love with me.” She said. At least not anymore, she thought. 

After about an hour more of mingling, the party was starting to die down, and Rory and Holly were getting ready to leave. Rory grabbed her jacket from the coat check and started to put it on when Logan appeared next to her. “Hey where’d you come from?” She asked, looking surprised. “Surprising you is just one of my many talents, you should know that by now, Ace.” He said, smiling at her. God, he wanted to kiss her so badly, but he couldn’t. She scoffed sarcastically in response. “Believe me, I remember. You know, calling to say you’re coming works just as well. Yeah but that’s boring and normal and that is not why you liked me.” Logan responded, smiling, but also feeling a little sad about his lost love. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Huntzberger!” Rory called as she walked away from Logan, smiling at him. “See you tomorrow, Ace.” He said, smiling back. 

Once they’re out of the building, Holly makes a face at Rory. “What is that face for?” Rory asks, laughing at her roommate’s antics. Then proceeding to call a cab. “Oh nothing just the fact that you have a date TOMORROW with the Little Huntzberger!” She exclaimed and Rory laughed. “It’s not a date, we’re just catching up. It’s not a big deal.” She said. Though she said it wasn’t a big deal, Rory was still excited about seeing Logan again. She truly had missed him. “Okay well it seems like a date to me...” Holly said, giving Rory another suggestive look. “You weren’t even there for the conversation!” Rory exclaimed, laughing at Holly again. “Speaking of your conversation” Holly wiggled her eyebrows “tell me all about it.” She finished, stopping her eyebrow movement. “It was nothing. We said hi and he asked if we could get dinner tomorrow and that’s pretty much it.” Rory said. “Pretty much it?” Holly asked. At this point, they were nearly to their apartment. “Do you want to stop for ice cream before we go home?” Rory asks. “Rory you’re changing the subject, but yes I do.” Holly said, and Rory rolled her eyes at her. “Fine. He told me I looked beautiful and that he missed me but that’s it I swear!” Rory said, holding her hands up. “Okay fine I believe you. But beautiful huh? I wish guys were telling me that at fancy parties, but alas…” Holly said dramatically, draping herself across Rory with a hand on her forehead to add to the act. 

Back at their apartment, Rory is changing into pajamas while Holly flips through the channels on the TV. “Hey Rory your phone buzzed!” Holly shouts to Rory from the living room. “What does it say?” Rory shouted back. Rory and Holly had been friends for a while and living with someone truly does make you very close to them, so Rory felt comfortable with Holly reading her texts. “Ooohh it’s from Little Huntzberger!” She said, and Rory ran in. “No it is not don’t mess with me.” “I swear to you it is. Now go finish getting ready for bed princess Rory.” Holly said, smacking Rory in the leg while she was coming towards her. “Okay whatever. What does it say?” She says, walking back to the bathroom. “Mini Huntzberger-“ “I thought it was little?” “Oh sorry. Little Huntzberger says, ‘Hey Ace. It was nice to see you tonight. Thanks for sending me your address. I’ll be there at 7.’” Rory walked back in, this time without face wash on her face and Holly handed her back her phone. “Well that was nice of him.” Holly says, as Rory types out her response to Logan. “I have one more question.” “Shoot.” Rory says, putting her phone down. “Ace?” She asked. “Oh it’s Logan’s nickname for me.” “Yeah I gathered that.” “Let me finish! It comes from the art deco era; it means an Ace Reporter who gets the best stories and like a top-notch reporter.” She finished and Holly nodded. “So how did that whole nickname start?” “I thought you said one question not twenty!” Rory said laughing. “Well I lied.” Holly responded. “Okay I was doing an article on a secret society at Yale and I knew he was in it but he wouldn’t confess and when he finally did, he called me Ace I think because I figured out he was in it since his dad and his grandfather were in it. Is that all?” She finished and Holly took a breath in. “I guess I can be done interrogating you for the day.” She said and stood up. “I’m going to sleep. Night Rory.” “Night Holly.” A few minutes later, Rory’s phone dings again, and instead of being a text from Logan, it’s a friend request on Facebook. Though it may seem miniscule, Rory knows it’s a step in a direction she definitely doesn’t hate. Hopefully their reunion dinner will at least begin mend what had been broken at Rory’s graduation.


	3. Date Night

“Hello?” “Hey mom.” “Hey hon! How are you?” Lorelai asks. “I’m good. I just got home from work and wanted to talk to you.” Rory said, laying out possible outfits for her dinner with Logan. “Well I am always here to talk.” Lorelai said, and Rory smiled. “So, how was that gala thing last night?” “It was good. Not as bad as I thought it would be.” Rory responded, walking to her closet to pick out shoes. “That’s good! Any cool journal-y people there?” Lorelai asked. “Not really. Mostly just the company and the company we’re merging with. It was pretty uneventful.” Rory said. She felt like she was lying, but she wasn’t really. She knew Lorelai would not like that she was going out with Logan, but she felt like she needed to tell her. “Is there something you’re not telling me, hon?” Lorelai asked, hearing it in Rory’s voice. “Logan was there.” Rory said, sighing. “Logan as in house in California with an avocado tree, Logan?” “That’s the one.” Rory said, sitting on her bed. “How was that?” Rory sighed. “It was fine, we talked a little.” She said. “Okay. I’m going to tell you something but I don’t want to hear it from you okay?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lorelai asked, raising suspicion in her voice. “I just don’t want to hear it if you don’t agree with me.” Lorelai sighed, “Okay shoot.” “Logan and I are getting dinner tonight. It’s not a date or anything, we’re just catching up. Condé Nast is merging with his dad’s publishing company and-“ “Okay I don’t agree that this is a good decision, but I’m glad you two could get some better closure. I still don’t like the boy that much because he broke your heart, but I know you loved him and he was good for you, even though he was kind of an ass at times.” Lorelai said, causing Rory to smile. “Okay good. I’m glad I’m going out with him. I don’t know why he’s back at his dad’s company so that will be interesting and honestly I missed him.” “Well good. I’m glad you’re happy.” “Thanks mom. Can I send you pictures of my outfit choices and you’ll help me decide?” “Of course that’s what I do best.” Lorelai responded, smiling. “Okay thanks mom. Love you.” “Love you too, hon. Thanks for calling” Rory smiles, hangs up, and immediately sends pictures of her choices to her mom. 

Promptly at 7:00, there was a knock at the door of the apartment. “Rory you didn’t tell me Little Huntzberger was coming up here!” Holly exclaimed. “Chill. He’ll probably only be here for a second.” Rory says, putting her second earring in while walking towards the door and opening it on Logan. “Hey Ace.” “Hey Huntzberger.” “Oh these are for you.” He says, handing Rory the flowers he has in his hand, and kissing her on the cheek. “Oh Logan you didn’t have to bring me flowers.” Rory says, taking the flowers from Logan. “They’re beautiful, though, thank you. Here come in while I find a vase.” She says, and Logan walks into the small apartment. Holly makes a small noise behind her. “Oh sorry. Logan, this is Holly. She is also a freelance writer working for Condé Nast at the moment.” Rory says, and Logan shakes Holly’s hand. “Nice to meet you Holly, I’m Logan.” Holly responds with a small smile. “This is a nice place you’ve got, Rory.” Logan says peering. “Yeah, it was mostly thanks to Emily and Richard.” Rory says, reaching up to the cabinet where the vases are. “Oh bless Emily and Richard.” “I agree. We were so lucky to find something in such a nice area.” Holly says, joining the conversation. Finally putting the flowers in the vase, Rory arrives back at Logan’s side. “Ready?” He asks, looking down at Rory. “Yup. Let’s go.” She says, grabbing her purse from off the counter. “Have fun you two!” Holly shouts as they leave, giving Rory a wink as she turns around to look at her roommate.

“You know you really should move into a building with better security. I mean the guy at the front desk asked me who I was here for and I said it was you and he told me to go right up.” “Oh you met Fred?” “Since when are you on a first name basis with the doorman?” Logan asks and grabs Rory’s hand and kissed it, like he had done so many times before. “So where are you taking me?” Rory asks, as she presses the button for the elevator, but still holding on to Logan’s hand. “It’s a surprise.” Logan says, with a glint in his eye and a smile on his lips as they step into the elevator. “I should’ve known.” Rory says, smiling back at the blonde boy next to her. As they walk outside, Logan hails a cab, finally letting go of Rory’s hand. “No car?” Rory asks. “No the car is in London, with the rest of my stuff.” Logan explains as the car pulls up. “Oh. So, where do you currently reside? Like permanently reside?” She asked, secretly hoping it was on this continent. As the driver began to drive to their undisclosed location, Logan answered “I’m kind of in the middle of things. I have to have an apartment out here to do some work with Condé Nast,” he says, gesturing to her. “But, there is a chance that I will still need to do some work in London, so I’m working on getting some stuff out here to balance out my belongings.” “Sounds complicated.” Rory responds, running her hand across the strap of her purse. “I forgot to tell you, but you look incredible.” Logan says, after a moment of silence and Rory looks over to him, smiling. Grabbing Rory’s hand and running his thumb against it, ‘I’m still in love with her’ he thinks to himself. “So why are you back at your dad’s company?” Rory asks, curios once again about Logan’s whereabouts over the last two years. “Mithcum had a heart attack and needed someone who knew the company to take over for a little while, and well, here I am.” Logan said, frowning a bit. “You don’t seem too happy about that.” Rory says, and Logan goes back to rubbing her hand. “I mean it’s not terrible, but you know, I left the company for a reason and things were so great in California…” He trails off, remembering how he and Rory had left off. 

“So how are things with you? How’s Lorelai?” “Umm I’m doing okay. Freelance writing is stressful and not really what I imagined I would be doing but that’s okay. My mom is great. Her and Luke have been together for about-” she looks up “three years now and the Dragonfly is doing well.” She finishes as they pull up to the restaurant. “That’s good.” Logan says, paying the cabbie and opening the door of the cab and stepping out. “Wow the River Café! This is the one with the great view of the bridge, right? How did you get a reservation here?” Rory exclaims, in awe of the location. “You underestimate me, Ace.” Logan says, grabbing her hand as she steps out of the cab. “You know people get married, here right? Married. And you got us in here? On a one day’s notice? Wow Huntzberger, you’ve really stepped up your game.” Rory says, and Logan just laughs. “Again, you underestimate me.” He says, holding out his arm so she could grab it, and without looking away from the outside of the restaurant, she does. As they walk in, Rory takes the whole scene in. The restaurant is just beautiful, and once again, she is floored by Logan’s gestures. “Reservation for Huntzberger” Logan says to the hostess. “Right this way.” “Logan this place is amazing.” Rory said, leaning in close to Logan so she could get a full look at the venue. “Just wait till you see the view from our table.” He says, just as they get there. Rory’s eyes widen as she looks out the window at New York city glistening. “Incredible, right?” He asks as they sit down. “Absolutely breathtaking” She responds, finally taking her eyes off the skyline. “Just like you.” He says, as a waiter brings wine to their table. “Wine for you, Mrs. Huntzberger?” Rory laughs a little. “Yes please.” “Okay I will be back in a little bit to take your orders.” He says, turning to walk away. “Mrs. Huntzberger?” Rory asks laughing, then sipping on her wine and Logan shrugs and grins at her. 

“So, what have you been up to? How did you end up in New York?” Logan asks, looking at Rory then grabbing his menu. “Well after graduation, I met with that guy that I met at your, party, remember the one that worked at the New York Times?” Logan nodded in response. “Well he gave me a job to work on Barack Obama’s campaign trail and it was so incredible. I mean I was a real reporter. It was only for an online magazine, but still! It was so cool and I got to meet Obama and be with all of the real journalists!” Rory enthused, while Logan just smiled. “That’s awesome, Ace.” Logan says, then the waiter comes and takes their orders. “But, when that finished I just started freelance writing, and New York is probably the best place for that, plus it’s not too far from Stars Hollow, which I guess is why I’m here.” Logan nodded. “How is Stars Hollow? You know-“ “Yes. You thought it was fascinating. I remember.” Rory says, laughing. “But Stars Hollow is good, it’s basically the same. The Winter Carnival is coming up, as well as the Revolutionary War Reenactment, and the Snowman Competition, so Stars Hollow is busy. Paul Anka the dog is telling fortunes again this year at the carnival, so it’s setting out to be an exciting event. Rory said nodding, and Logan laughed at the small-town antics of Stars Hollow. “That town of yours is truly fascinating.” Logan said, laughing again and shaking his head.   
“What about you? What have you been doing? How was California?” Rory asks. “California was great, but I kind of missed having seasons, you know? I mean while the snow can get annoying, sometimes the constant sun is a bit much. But the job was an unparalleled experience. I mean I made so many connections and learned so much. It was great.” Logan says, and Rory smiles. “I’m glad it was such a good experience, despite the sun.” Rory said, and the pair laughs as their food arrives. “Oh this looks amazing.” Rory awes as the waiter walks away. “Thank you again, for everything Logan.” Rory says, smiling at Logan. “Of course, Ace.” Logan responds, smiling back. 

After a minute of eating in silence, “So you don’t seem too jazzed to be back at your dad’s company.” Rory asks. “Since when do you say jazzed?” Logan asks, laughing and Rory just gives him one of her ‘hush you’ looks. “I mean, it is what it is. I would rather not be working for him, but I couldn’t say no to him after he had a heart attack.” Rory nods. “That’s understandable. Have you thought about leaving his company again?” Rory asks, curious but trying not to pry too much. Logan kind of makes a face. “Sorry is that too personal? You don’t have to answer at all. I just want to know what you’ve been up to and I-“ “Ace.” Rory stops talking. “It’s fine. Yes. I want to leave my dad’s company, but I don’t know if I can.” Rory nods, still a little worried about her words. “My dad says that I have to work for him until he can find someone who can replace me, or until he is sure he won’t have any more health problems that could be detrimental to his work, or we could go my usual route, and just disappoint him enough so he has to fire me.” Logan says. “I’m very proud of you for not taking option C yet.” Rory responds. “It’s only been a couple months. I have to make him not hate me and then boom out of nowhere, disappointment city.” Logan says, which causes both of them to chuckle. “I’m sorry Mitchum is still an ass.” Rory says. “Mithcum will forever and always be an ass.” Logan responds, taking a sip of his wine. “What do you think he would do if he knew you were with me?” Rory asks, thinking of Mithcum’s hatred towards her. “Oh I don’t know, but that is a very good question. Rumor has it that we’re actually his favorite two people.” Logan says, smiling. “Oh is that so? I didn’t hear that one.” Rory responds. 

“So I’ve been meaning to ask. How did you meet Holly?” Logan asks and waits for Rory’s answer as she finishes eating. “Oh. Holly was on the campaign trail with me as one of the reporters for smaller online newspapers.” Rory explains. “She seems nice.” “She is. I mean she’s no Lane, but she’s nice and neat.” “Both good qualities to look for in a roommate. How is Lane, by the way?” Logan finishes. “Lane is good. Her kids are growing up so fast.” Rory says, sighing. “You miss her?” “I miss her.” Rory confirmed, nodding. “How long as it been since you were back in the ol’ Hollow?” “Since when do you or anyone calls Stars Hollow ‘the ol’ Hollow?” She says laughing, and Logan laughs with her. “I don’t know. Let’s forget I called it that.” “Agreed.” She says, still laughing. “But I’m not sure. It’s been a while. I missed the last town festival because I was in Italy.” Rory says. “Italy?” “Freelance writing sure can take you places, mister.” She says. “It was for a small online magazine. They have a weirdly popular travel section, so I got to spend two weeks in Italy. It was amazing.” “I’m sure it was.” “But yeah. It’s been since the summer I think?” She says, raising her pitch at the end to make it sound like a question. “My mom has been out here a couple times to see me, but I haven’t really made it home in a while.” Rory says, now thinking about exactly how long it’s been since she was in her hometown. 

“Have you seen any of the members of the Life and Death Brigade? Colin? Finn?” Rory asked, curious about her other friends’ whereabouts. “I saw Colin, Finn, and Robert a few months ago, but they all travel a lot for work, whatever it is they do. Speaking of eccentric friends how is Paris?” “She is good. I actually saw her about a month ago. She’s working at Massachusetts General Hospital right now since it’s connected to Harvard, but she came down here for the weekend. You know, we can’t really seem to lose each other. From Chilton to Yale, it’s kind of just been us.” Rory says. “Rory. Do not tell me you miss Paris Geller.” “It’s not that I miss her, I’m just nostalgic!” Rory says, defending herself. “Okay, whatever you say, Ace.” Logan says, not fully convinced. 

“Ready to go?” Logan asks, after signing the check. “Yup.” Rory responds and they both get up. “Thanks Mitchum for a great meal.” Logan says, raising his eyebrows at Rory. “Logan!” Rory says, hitting Logan in the stomach. “Hey, I thought earlier we decided he was an ass!” Logan says, defending himself. “We did!” “Well then he can pay for our dinner!” “Fine.” As they walk out of the restaurant Rory grabs Logan’s arm again. “Do you want to walk around a bit before I take you home?” Logan asks, extremely aware Rory’s presence next to him. “Yes, please.” After a minute, Rory leans in to look up at the skyline around them. “I missed you a lot, Logan.” She says, looking at him. “I missed you more than you can imagine, Rory.” Logan says, stopping and facing her then brushing a piece of hair out of her face. “I’m still in love with you.” Logan says, immediately regretting it once it comes out of his mouth. “Logan…” Rory says, looking down at her feet. “You’ve always had a tendency for saying things like that at the wrong time.” She says, finally looking back up. “Yeah I’m starting to realize that myself.” “But I guess if we’re sharing our confessions, I think I still love you too.” Rory says quietly. “This is such a bad time for this. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I feel like I’m just floating and not doing the things I wanted to do.” Rory says, looking at Logan with a sad, yet annoyed look on her face. “I know, Ace. I know.” Logan says, pulling Rory into a hug. They stand there, embraced in each other for a few minutes, until Rory finally pulls away, sighing. “What if we took things really, really slowly?” Logan asked. “You sure you could do that Huntzberger?” Rory replied, trying to joke. “Hey. The whole boyfriend thing worked pretty well until you turned down my marriage proposal, so you can’t say that.” Logan says, making Rory smile. “So super slow?” “Super slow.”


	4. Coffee Talks

The next morning, Rory wakes up to texts from her mom, Lane, Paris and Logan. After quickly responding to Lane, sending a meticulously thought out text to Paris, and quick a synopsis of her date with Logan and the promise of a phone call to her mom, she sighs and opens Logan’s text. Rory wasn’t really sure what she was expecting Logan to say, probably just an explanation as to why they couldn’t date again, but his text very simply read, ‘I had a great time last night. Coffee tomorrow?’ and Rory smiled. The gala had been on a Thursday night, so it was Saturday morning and Rory had gotten the chance to sleep in a little after having stayed out late two nights in a row. She typed out ‘coffee sounds great if you’re still up for it’, begins to start getting ready for the day. 

A few minutes later, her phone buzzes with a new text from Logan, ‘coffee it is. I’ll be at your apartment in half an hour?’ and Rory responds and finishes getting ready. Punctual as usual, Logan arrives thirty minutes later sporting a grey sweater. “Logan! Where is your suit? I thought your father taught you better!” Rory exclaims, pretending to do a double take when she opens to the door. “Ha-ha. Nice to see you too.” Logan says, mimicking Rory, but then leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. “Good morning, Ace.” He says, smiling at her, and looking at her like she hung the moon herself. “Good morning, Logan.” Rory replies, smiling back. “Ready to go?” Logan asks, and Rory grabs her purse and nods definitively. 

After Rory locks the door to her apartment, and they begin to walk down the hall towards the elevator. “So no Holly this morning?” Logan asks, pressing the down button on the elevator. “No. She is spending the weekend at her boyfriend’s apartment.” Rory replies. “Have you met said boyfriend?” Logan asks, as they step into the elevator. “Yeah he’s nice. He’s not my editor, or even an editor at all, he does not know Krav Maga, and he isn’t in love with me, so I approve.” “All good qualities I look for in a roommate’s boyfriend.” “mhmm me too” Rory says, laughing a little, causing Logan to laugh too. “Good lord Doyle was weird.” Logan says, laughing harder, and Rory nods, laughing harder along with him. “I lived with him twice! Twice!” Rory exclaims, and they step out of the elevator. “I lived with him too!” Logan exclaims back, and Rory shakes her head. 

“There’s a coffee shop down the street from here, if you want to go there.” Rory says, once they’ve stepped outside and gotten over their laughter. “That sounds good.” Logan replies, and grabs Rory’s hand, causing Rory to smile widely without Logan noticing. “So how are you this morning? I never asked, we got straight to talking about Doyle, which to be honest, is not my ideal type of morning.” Logan asks, after walking for about a minute in silence. “I am in need of coffee, but other than that I’m great.” Rory says, smiling up at Logan. “Well, we are about to change that.” Logan says, opening the door to the coffee shop for Rory. “How are you this morning?” Rory asks back, once they’re in the door. “I’m fantastic.” Logan says, smiling at Rory and walking to the line. 

Once they’ve ordered their coffees, they sit down at a table towards the back of the not-too-crowded coffee shop. “So any big plans for today?” Rory asks after sitting down. “Lots and lots of unpacking. Some of my boxes from London finally came, so that is today’s project.” Logan says, grabbing Rory’s hands from across the table. “You know, I am great at unpacking.” “Oh really? That’s why I brought all your boxes up to your room when you moved in with Paris the second time, right?” Logan says, tilting his head at Rory. “Hey! You just carried the boxes upstairs and I did the rest of the work myself! Plus, you’re a manly man so you’re supposed to do things like carry boxes.” Rory exclaimed, throwing her hands up, causing Logan to laugh. “Hey! Don’t laugh or I won’t come over and you will be stuck to unpack everything all by yourself, mister.” She said, now pointing at him. “I don’t think you’ve ever called me, or anyone for that matter, a manly man.” Logan says, laughing again. “But, I would love your help, thank you.” “you’re welcome” Rory replied, still in an angry tone, with her arms across her chest. 

A minute later their coffee is brought to their table and Rory sits back up from her slouched back position. “So are you writing anything exciting at the moment? I read the stuff that you’ve written for Condé Nast and it’s all amazing.” Logan says, watching Rory sip her coffee. “Always so flattering. But, I’m finishing up a piece on how China is becoming a bigger superpower, but other than that, December has been pretty dull as far as world events.” Rory says, and Logan nods. “Do you know when you have to go back to London?” Rory asks, wondering how long her now-boyfriend would be in town. “I’m not sure, probably not until the new year, but maybe even later.” Logan says, and Rory looks down and smiles. “What about you? Any travelling planned?” “Aside from Stars Hollow for Christmas, not really. There has been conversation about a trip to D.C. in early January to hear the U.S. Constitution be read, which I would love to cover, but that’s not definite yet.” “That sounds great, Rory.”

“Hey. Would you want to come to Stars Hollow for the winter carnival and the snowman competition and Christmas?” Rory asks, regretting it once she asked. They had promised to go slow and this was definitely not slow. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. We decided slow and me inviting you-“ “I would love to. Mitchum is setting off to who knows where for Christmas, Honor is spending it with Josh and his family, and my mom is checked into a spa in Arizona until January.” Logan says, grinning at Rory. “It’s only two weeks away though and the whole thing is like a week and a half thing.” Rory says, feeling bad for asking, even though Logan had agreed. “Ace. I want to go. It sounds great, plus I’ve never been to the Stars Hollow Winter Carnival.” Logan says, grabbing Rory’s hands and kissing them. “This is true. It is an event you can’t miss.” Rory says, finally smiling back at Logan. 

“Were you going to spend Christmas alone?” Rory asks, a few minutes later, once she had finished off her coffee. “What?” “When you were talking, you said Mitchum was going somewhere, your mom was at some spa, and Honor was with Josh’s family. What were you going to do for Christmas?” Rory asked, concerned about Logan’s previous holiday plans. “Oh, I was going to spend it with Honor and Josh, but to be honest, I’ve been looking for ways to get out of that for weeks now.” “Well, now you are going to get to experience the Gilmore Christmas.” Rory said, grinning. “Oh my god. I have to tell my mom.” She said, realizing, that in her synopsis of the date she had failed to mention that her and Logan were back together. “I don’t know how highly your mom thinks of me now.” Logan says, now also worried for Lorelai’s reaction. “Yeah, not very highly.” Rory said, panicking a little. Her mom had said she was happy he made her happy, but she wasn’t sure how Lorelai would feel about her dating Logan again. “Okay. We’re going to go back to my apartment and talk about what to say to your mom, then you can panic for 3, maybe 5 minutes, then you have to call her.” Logan says, seeing the panicked look on Rory’s face, and Rory nodded.   
After they leave the coffee shop, Logan grabs Rory’s hand and they walk away from Rory’s apartment. “How do you get home from my place, by the way?” Rory asks, furrowing her eyebrows. “You’re not going to believe me.” “What?” “I take the train.” “The train?! Logan Huntzberger, you take public transportation?! Does Mitchum know?!” Rory exclaims, mostly sarcastically, causing Logan to laugh. “Shut up Gilmore and think about what you’re going to tell you mom.” Logan says, still laughing.

“Okay I am going to tell her that we talked about what happened at my graduation party and my graduation.” “But we didn’t.” “Yes but she doesn’t need to know that, at least not right now. Except for the fact that she will know, because Lorelai knows everything.” Rory says, biting the fingernails of the hand Logan wasn’t holding. “So we’ll have a real, grown-up discussion about it. Next.” Logan says, grabbing Rory’s other hand and putting it by her side. “I need to tell her that I’m really glad I’m back with you and that we are taking it really slowly and that I’ll be careful and that even though you broke my heart, you won’t do it again. And I need to tell her that I love you and that I know you love me back and that this is what I want.” Rory says, seeming to forget her company, and Logan begins to feel very sad for the effect he had on Rory. “Rory I’m so, so sorry.” Logan starts. “It’s okay. I kind of forgot you were there.” Rory says, looking down. “It’s okay. Rory, listen. I am so sorry. Everyday since your graduation I have missed you, and I deeply, deeply regretting putting you in that position. I understand why you didn’t say yes. You couldn’t. It would have destroyed you, and I understand that now.” Logan says, stopping their walking. “I was completely heartbroken over you, but now that I have you again, don’t even think for a minute I’m letting you go. I can’t do it again.” Rory says, unable to look Logan in the eyes. “I promise not to ask you to marry me until I know we’re both ready, and I promise not to do anything stupid, and I promise to never leave you ever again.” Logan says, and Rory looks up again, and kisses him on the lips for the first time in two years.


	5. Boxes on Boxes

“I can’t believe you take the subway.” “Careful. Don’t tell Mitchum, he would have a fit.” Logan joked as they walked up to his apartment, only three stops from Rory’s. “Oh I actually have your dad on speed dial, I’ll let him know of all of your un-Huntzberger like activities.” “Ha-ha. So please don’t make fun of me, because my apartment is an absolute mess right now. We’re talking boxes everywhere.” Logan says, attempting to defend himself before they walked into the room. “Okay I won’t.” Rory said, laughing a bit at Logan’s serious tone. 

“Jeez Huntzberger, do you have enough stuff?” “What happened to no making fun of?” “I’m not making fun! I’m honestly astonished, yet amazed at how much stuff you have. Good lord Logan.” Rory said, looking around the apartment at the stacks of boxes, then giving a wide-eyed look over to Logan. “I don’t know the stuff kind of just cumulated I guess. There was my room at home, then my dorm at Yale, then my apartment in London, the apartment in New Haven, the first apartment here, the house in California, the other apartment in London, and now the apartment here I just kept having to buy stuff that was left in other places.” Logan said, moving a box so he could sit down on the couch. 

Rory follows him to the couch, which sounded like an easy task, but if you didn’t know the situation, you would think that Logan set it up to be an impossible obstacle course. But, she finally made it through the boxes, and sat down on the couch. As if on cue, Logan lifts his arm up to invite Rory to sit closer, and she obliges without thought, allows Logan to wrap his arm around her. “I missed you. And this.” Rory says, looking up at Logan, who gives her a soft smile, gazing into her startling blue eyes. “Me too.” He says, moving her hair from out of her face and kissing her forehead. It felt so normal and right. Like this was what was supposed to be happening right now. She wanted to savor every moment of this feeling of security and warmth while it was here. 

After a few minutes of cuddling, Logan sighs deeply and starts to get up. “You need to call your mom.” He says, trying to move his arm from around Rory. “Yeah and for me to do that you can’t move.” Rory replies, tugging on Logan’s arm to make him stay. “Okay, okay I will stay for moral support.” Logan replies, shaking his head at Rory’s amusing behavior, but although he wouldn’t admit it, he wanted to move from behind Rory about as much as she did. As a response, Rory nods her head a single time. “Good answer, mister.” 

Reaching to the box where her phone was, Rory takes a deep breath. “It’s going to be okay. She loves you, and if she thinks this is what you want to do, then she’ll go with it.” Logan says, sensing Rory’s nerves. “I don’t know why I’m nervous. I mean this is my mom for god’s sake, I know how to talk to her. She’s my best friend and I shouldn’t be scared to tell her that I’m back with you, especially because it’s what I want to do.” Rory says, holding the phone tightly with both hands. “You’ve got this, Ace. Your mom isn’t going to be mad at you or anything. Just call her and tell her all the things you told me earlier, you know the part that you forgot I was there for, and she will understand, I know she will.” Logan says, reassuring Rory, who has opened her mom’s contact on her phone. “Okay. Let’s do this.” She says, pressing the call button.

“Hey kid, what’s up?” “Hey mom. Nothing much, I just wanted to talk to you about something.” Miles away in Stars Hollow, Connecticut, Lorelai Gilmore hears Rory’s timid voice, and is immediately concerned. Grabbing Michel’s arm and making him deal with the issue at hand, she goes to a quiet corner of the inn to hear her daughter out. “Are you okay, hon?” Lorelai asks, expressing her concern. “I’m good, mom. I just have something to tell you and I don’t know how you’re going to react.” “Okay well. Shoot. I promise I’ll still love you when you’re done.” Lorelai says, breathing a sigh of relief to hear that Rory was okay, but intrigued about what she had to say. Over the line, she can hear Rory take a deep sigh, and there’s a muffled voice in the background, followed by a shush, which Lorelai can assume is Rory. 

“Rory, are you with someone right now?” “Don’t worry about that-“ “Rory who are you with?” “I’m getting there.” Okay well, that makes her a little concerned. “So you know how last night I went out to dinner with Logan?” “Yes I remember. By the way, I would like some more details other than that synopsis.” “Yeah I’ll tell you more. But, so Logan and I talked and it looks like he’s going to be in New York for a while now, and we both realized we really missed each other-“ “Cut to the chase kid.” “Logan and I are back together.” “Rory.” “Mom, I’m still in love with him. Despite all the pain and heartache, he caused, I’m still in love with him.” Rory says, trying not to look at the remorseful look on Logan’s face. “I don’t know what to tell you, hon, because you’re an adult and it’s not like Dean or Jess. I have to let you love who you want to love, and I’m going to try really hard to do that.” Lorelai says, and Rory smiles, accepting her mom’s statements. “Okay. Thank you. One more thing.” “What’s that?” “Would it be okay if Logan spent Christmas with us? His dad is going off somewhere, his mom is checked into some spa, and his sister is spending it with her husband’s family.” Rory says, hoping her mom is on board. “Yeah sure. Just warn him.” “What do I need to warn him about?” Rory asks, and her and Logan both laugh and Logan mouths ‘what?’ at her. “Taylor, the amount of food we’ll be eating, Emily, oh and Taylor.” Lorelai says. “Okay hon I have to go. I left Michel with a family that has three kids.” “Ouch.” “You’ve got that right, sister. Well thank you for calling and letting me know, I appreciate it. I love you.” “I love you too, mom.” “Bye, kid.” Lorelai finishes, and Rory hits the end call button on her phone and drops her head onto Logan’s chest.

“You did it and she didn’t sound mad.” Logan says, rubbing Rory’s arm. Rory sits up, but leans in closer to Logan. “She wasn’t mad. She just told me that I’m an adult so she didn’t really have control over my relationship and she didn’t know what to tell me since you weren’t…” “weren’t what?” “this relationship is nothing and was nothing like my last ones. It was so much more grown-up. My mom wasn’t involved at all, as where with Dean and Jess, she voiced her opinion to me and she could stop them from seeing me, since I was a lot younger.” Rory says, feeling bad for bringing up her previous boyfriends in front of her current one. “Well, I think that shows that she trusts you.” Logan says, trying to reassure Rory that this was a good decision. 

“By the way, what do you have to warn me about?” “Oh that. She wanted me to warn you about Taylor, the food we’ll be eating, as well as Emily Gilmore. We Gilmores spread ourselves thin for holidays, but things will be a lot easier now that Luke lives in my house.” Rory says, explaining, then thinking out loud. “Why does your mom think she needs to warn me about these things? I think Taylor is my favorite person in this town of yours,” “yeah maybe don’t bring that up.” “Could you let me finish? But, Emily loves me, and I think the food warning is about five years too late.” Logan says laughing. “Both of those statements are true, you are correct. But seriously, maybe don’t tell Luke or my mom that Taylor is your favorite person in Stars Hollow.” “Well, I guess he would be my second favorite, maybe even third.” “Why’s that?” “Well, I think you are required to be my number one.” Rory nods her head. “This is true, I think the girlfriend does have to be a priority.” “And plus, I do really like your mom.” “Well she will be thrilled to hear that she placed above Taylor in your list.” “I’m glad. Now are you going to help me unpack?” 

“Yeah. Let’s get rid of these boxes as quickly as possible please. It’s beginning to look like Stars Hollow when Taylor made that hay bale mazes, expect, you know, boxes.” Rory says, hitting Logan’s chest lightly before standing up. “Hey that hay bale maze was pretty cool.” “It was but I don’t think comparing your current apartment set up to it should be considered a compliment.” “You’re probably right.” Logan says, reaching his hand up to Rory. Grabbing it, she pulls him off the couch and onto his feet. “Where do you want to start?” She asks, looking around the crowded space. “Well first, I would like to do this, and then we can start on the dishes.” Logan says, leaning down to kiss Rory. “Sounds like a plan to me.” Rory replies, kissing Logan once more. 

“So where would the said dishes box be?” Rory asks, beginning to look at the descriptions written on the boxes. “It should be in the kitchen.” Logan replies, doing the same. “Well that makes sense.” “I thought so.” “So how did you even get all these boxes up here?” Rory asks, beginning to sift through the boxes near the kitchen area. “I mailed them from London, then gave the bell boy downstairs an enormous tip, plus the building has a cart that you can use to carry stuff like this upstairs.” Logan explains, also making his way towards the kitchen.

“Logan?” “Yeah?” Logan appears from behind a stack of boxes and sees Rory sitting on the floor with a medium-sized box in front of her. “This box is labeled Rory. What does that mean?” Rory asks, a little concerned. Logan walks over to her and sits down beside her on the hardwood floor. “When we broke up, it was really abrupt, and I still had some of your stuff in my apartment, and I guess your stuff kind of cumulated, like all this stuff.” He says gesturing to the scenery of boxes. “From the apartment by Yale, in New York, I think there might be something from our Christmas trip in London, and maybe even from my dorm at Yale. I had planned to give it to you, but I never got to it.” “Okay. So, what kind of stuff are we talking?” Rory asks, looking again at the box labeled with blue sharpie. “I don’t know, mostly books, maybe some of my shirts you claimed” “you could have kept those.” “That’s true, but they just reminded me of you, so I just put them in a box and the box went from Connecticut to California to London and now it’s here on my kitchen floor.” “Wow.” “Do you want to open it?” “Sure.” “Okay.” Logan gets up and grabs the scissors from off the counter and cuts the box down the middle.

Logan was right, the box was almost all full of books, with a few sweaters laying on the top. “This was always my favorite sweatshirt of yours.” Rory says, grabbing the grey Yale sweatshirt that was right on top. “I honestly think I wore that twice and then you stole it.” “Okay, but they don’t sell this kind anymore and they’re really soft!” Rory exclaims, and immediately puts the sweatshirt on. “I remember why I let you keep that.” Logan says, looking at Rory with the loving look he always had on when he was looking at her. “And why’s that?” Rory asks, turning her head to look straight at Logan and smile. “Because you look a lot cuter than I do in it.” “Well I thought that was a given.” “Hmm, is it?” Logan asks, unable to withstand the urge to kiss her. 

At the bottom of the box, there’s a crumpled union jack from Logan’s goodbye party. “I didn’t know you took this with you.” Rory says, grabbing the small flag from the bottom of the box. “Yeah, well it was an amazing party and it was a nice keepsake that reminds me of you.” Logan responds, pushing a piece of hair out of Rory’s face. “Well in that case.” Rory says, looking at him, then back at the box. At the bottom, there’s a crumpled play bill from the play they saw at Yale, a fake police ID from when Logan barged in on Rory’s class, and a small blue velvet box. 

“Logan-“ “Can we just ignore the fact that that’s still there?” Logan asks, rubbing the back of his neck. “No. I don’t think we can. Why is this in my box?” Rory asks, turning her head to look Logan in the eyes again. “Well it was for you, and I don’t have any intention on giving it to anyone else, so I put it in here.” “Okay.” “Rory, while I have no intention of giving the ring I bought you to anyone else, I also have no intent of giving you the ring I bought you until we’re both ready. Okay?” “Honestly, I forgot it was in there. I’m sorry.” “It’s okay.” “You’re starting to say that word too many times and it doesn’t even sound like a word anymore.” Logan says and wraps his arm around Rory. “I’m sorry.” Rory doesn’t respond, but she lets her head fall onto Logan’s shoulder. “Are we still good?” Logan can feel Rory’s head nods, but the heavy feeling remained. 

“I can’t believe you kept all this stuff.” Rory says without moving her head. “Yeah it’s pretty lame, but I like it.” Logan says, enjoying the feeling of Rory’s weight against him, but still regretting putting the ring in the Rory box. ‘It’s not lame, it’s cute.” “So do you want the stuff in these boxes?” “Do you mind keeping it here? My bookshelf at my apartment definitely isn’t big enough for these and my drawers are already stuffed. I can bring it home to Stars Hollow when we go, but I wouldn’t mind if this stuff was here.” Rory says, lifting her head off Logan’s shoulder and standing up. “So should we get back to our previous mission of unpacking dishes?” Rory asks once they’re both standing and Logan has put the Rory box in his room. “Yeah probably.” “Can we eat lunch first?” “Of course.” Logan responded, kissing Rory’s temple.


	6. The Process of Unpacking

“I have left over pizza in the fridge or we can order or go out if you want.” Logan says, unwrapping his arms around Rory. “Pizza sounds good.” “Okay do you want to pre-heat the oven?” Logan says, moving some of the boxes from out of the kitchen. “Pre-heat? Oven?” Rory says, acting confused. “Oh you kid.” Logan replies, laughing while Rory goes to do her given task. “So how do you have furniture in here already? You barely have anything unpacked, yet you have a couch, coffee table, and kitchen table with chairs and I’ve only seen two of the rooms.” Rory asks, sitting down at one of the chairs at said kitchen table. “I had the furniture delivered while I was still in London and it was here the day after I got here.” “Convenient.” “I thought so.” 

“By the way, I don’t want you to think you having a box of my stuff is weird. I understand completely. I had a box for Dean when we broke up and even one for Jess. And I didn’t even date them for as long as we dated. I guess what I’m just trying to say is that I understand the box. I respect the box. I’m not mad at you for having a box with stuff that reminds me of you in it. Honestly the only reason I don’t have a box for you was because I was packing up my dorm and I didn’t know we were breaking up until… you know, the next day, I guess.” Rory rambles, as Logan sits down next to her and grabs her hands. “It’s okay, Ace.” Logan replies, reassuring Rory that he wasn’t mad or upset in the slightest. 

“Should we unpack while we wait for the pizza to be done?” Rory asks, changing the subject to something lighter. “Well if you want to eat on a plate, probably.” “Plates are for losers, but also having an unpacked apartment would be nice for you.” Rory says, causing Logan to laugh and kiss her hands. “Well then, if you insist on unpacking, then we shall.” Logan says, standing up and walking over to grab the box labeled dishes. “Hey you found the box!” “That I did. It was underneath the clothes box.” “Practical location.” “Clearly I could have organized the boxes better.” “I don’t know. I think kitchen closets are going to be the next trend.” Rory says smiling at Logan and beginning to grab plates out of the cardboard box. 

After a few minutes of putting away dishes, the oven beeps, announcing that their pizza was ready. “Oh yay I’m starving.” Rory says, grabbing plates out of the pile of newly opened dishes and setting the pizza on them. “Glad I could be of service.” “That’s actually the only reason I kept you around. For the food.” “I should’ve known.” Logan replies, grinning at Rory. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He says, giving his usual loving look that he reserved for Rory. “There’s no place I’d rather be.” Rory responds, and Logan notices the return of her ‘harlequin romance face’ as Paris so lovingly named it. 

“Thanks for lunch.” “Of course.” Logan responds, picking up the dirty dishes and putting them in the sink. “Are the dishes all unpacked?” “For the most part. I put almost all of them in the cabinets and I can finish doing that and you can start unpacking something else?” Rory asks, beginning to put more dishes away. “Sounds good. Thanks for your help, Ace.” Logan says, going over and kissing her on the cheek. “Anytime.” 

After an hour, the apartment looked noticeably more full of Logan’s belongings, and the stacks of boxes were beginning to shrink. “Hey this is good progress.” Logan says, walking over to Rory, who was putting books on shelves. “Yeah. It’s really starting to come together.” “We make a good team.” Logan says, wrapping his arms around Rory, who sets her book down to do the same. “Hey Ace.” “Yeah?” “I thought you said you were almost done unpacking the books.” “I did and I am. Why?” “Well there’s a very large stack of books that is not on the bookshelf, and I don’t want to ruin your system or anything, but are those the books you still have to put away?” Logan says, taking his gaze from the books back to Rory. “Oh. Those were the books I was going to ask to borrow.” “I should’ve know.” Logan replies, shaking his head, but smiling at Rory. “I really should not have trusted you to put away the books.” Logan says, laughing. “Probably not.”

“We should get back to unpacking.” Rory says, arms still wrapped around Logan. “We should, but unpacking is boring.” “Oh god forbid Logan Huntzberger is bored!” Rory exclaims. “Finally, someone who understands!” Logan exclaims back, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the couch. “So your solution to boredom is to sit on the couch.” Rory says, tilting her head and giving a ‘really?’ look at her boyfriend. “For now.” Logan replies, putting his hand on Rory’s thigh. “Why don’t you call Colin and Finn? From past experience, they’re great at moving and unpacking things, plus they’ll make things a lot more interesting.” Rory suggests. “That’s true, but honestly, I’d rather spend the day with you.” Inside, Rory is elated. She couldn’t remember a time where Logan had turned down spending time with his friends to spend time with just her. “Well, then we have to do the rest of it ourselves. C’mon, Huntzberger.” Rory says, starting to stand up, but is pulled back down by Logan grabbing her arm. 

“Logan.” Rory says, drawing out the n. “Ace.” Logan replies, drawing out her name like she had with his. “Unpacking is boring and tiring. Just sit here with me for a minute.” Logan says, putting his arm around Rory. “Okay fine. Jeez, you really did miss me, Huntzberger.” “Shut up.” Logan mumbles, pulling Rory closer to him and kissing her head. 

“So what are our plans for our trip to good ‘ol Stars Hollow?” “Well, I am glad you asked. I was planning on leaving after work on the 18th, but there was some debate between me and myself over whether to leave on the 19th.” “Sounds like a thrilling debate.” “Oh it was. It got ugly.” “But I know I’m not technically an employee at Condé Nast, but I like to follow their work schedule, so that’s why I was planning to leave on the 18th or 19th. It takes about two hours, so we wouldn’t be getting in that late on the 18th, but it would be later.” “Why don’t we leave work early on Friday?” “What?” “My possible replacement will be there all day Friday to get a feel for what I do, and I can tell Mitchum that you have a thing. Do your grandparents still do dinner on Friday nights?” “Yeah. I try to go as much as possible, but I haven’t been out there in a while.” Rory says, feeling bad about not seeing her grandparents. “Well let’s eat dinner with them!” “You’re awfully excited about eating dinner with Emily and Richard. I didn’t know you had such an affinity for eating with them!” “Well it’s always a blast. Plus, you could invite your mom and Luke and it could be a whole event.” “We don’t have to do this. We’ll see them at Christmas.” “Don’t you want to see your grandparents?” “Yes. I mean dinner with them sounds great, but I don’t want to have to drag you to dinner.” Rory explains. “I want to go. It’s all part of the Gilmore experience, right? An uncomfortable dinner at your grandparents and then back to Stars Hollow’s quirky event of the weekend?” “I guess so.” Rory says, laughing. “Then let’s do it.” 

“I have to call my mom. And my grandma.” “Call them!” “Why are you so excited about this?” Rory asks, laughing. “I don’t know. Can’t I be excited about seeing your family and I guess living like your family for a couple weeks?” Logan asks, laughing along with Rory. “I guess so, but you’ve never been this excited about having a fancy dinner before.” Rory says, still confused about Logan’s antics. “I don’t know if my mom is going to say yes to going to dinner. I mean she still hates going over there for dinner, and-“ “Just call her. If she doesn’t want to go, we can go alone or we don’t have to go at all.” Logan reassures. “Okay. I’ll call her.” 

“Wow, two calls in one day. I feel very special.” “Hey mom.” “Hey kid. What’s up?” “Logan was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner at grandma and grandpas on the 18th. He said we could leave work early and meet you and possibly Luke in Hartford.” “Logan wants to have dinner with grandma and grandpa?” Lorelai asks, suspicious of Logan’s actions. “Yeah, he asked if we could do it. I didn’t even do anything.” Rory explains, growing more curious of Logan’s reasoning. “Did he say why he wanted to have a fancy dinner with them?” “He says that he really wanted to do Gilmore Christmas and that included having an uncomfortable dinner and then going to a quirky Stars Hollow event.” Rory says, nudging Logan from her place in his arms. “Well, I guess he’s right. To get the full Gilmore experience, he must suffer through dinner, and then go to the carnival afterwards.” “I guess so. So, you’re in?” “I’ll ask Luke and get back to you. Don’t go crazy and call grandma yet or anything, but I’m in.” “Okay. Bye mom, love you.” “Love you too, hon. See you soon.” 

“So?” “She said that she was in and she would ask Luke. But she was also curios as to why you want to do this, as am I.” “I told you! It’s all part of the Gilmore lifestyle.” “Have you talked to Emily? Did she set you up to do this?” “No! Can’t I want to have dinner with your family?” Logan asks, trying to defend himself. “I mean I guess so, but it’s still kind of weird. I mean Emily and Richard aren’t really ones for casual dining and every time we go there, someone gets attacked and leaves unhappy.” “Look. I feel like now that I’m your boyfriend again, I feel like I have to prove myself again.” “Logan that’s ridiculous.” “I just want to show your family that I love you and that being with me is a good thing.” “That’s insane. My mom is fine with us being together and my grandparents are probably going to be thrilled. All my grandma talked about when we were together was how cute our babies would be…” “Okay we’ll talk about your grandmother fantasizing about our children later, but I don’t want your mom to be just fine with us together. I want her to know that you made the right call, and I want to show her that you mean the world to me, and you do, Rory. I want to show her that I will never, ever, try to hurt you again because you mean too much to me.” Logan says, and Rory knows he’s telling the truth. “Okay.” She responds, simply, leaning up to kiss him.


	7. Reasonings and Phone Calls

“So is that a good enough reason for me to want to see your family?” Logan asks, putting his arm back around Rory. “Hmm. I guess it’s sufficient.” “Only sufficient?” “No. It’s a perfect reason and I love that that’s what you want to do.” Rory says, showing that she was actually sincere this time. “I’m glad. So I guess we actually have to finish unpacking now.” He says, squeezing Rory closer to him in affection. “Probably. Now that we can actually walk through the apartment do you want to show me your room?” “I thought we were taking things slow, Ace!” Logan says, raising his eyebrows suggestively. “Logan! That’s not what I meant! I really meant that I would like to see the rest of your apartment!” Rory exclaims, while Logan laughs. “I know, Ace, I know. I’m just messing with you.” Logan reassures, placing the arm not around her on her thigh. “You’re infuriating.” Rory huffs, rolling her eyes, and resisting the urge to smile. 

“C’mon, let’s go see the rest of the apartment.” Logan says, standing up and offering his hand to Rory, who takes it and stands up next to him. “I’m getting more furniture, because right now it’s just a bed, but the view is nice.” He says, leading her to the other side of the two-bedroom apartment. “Any reason for two bedrooms?” Rory asks, peeping into the second bedroom. “Oh that’s for Finn when it’s my turn to watch him.” “Of course.” “I didn’t really have a say in where I lived, my dad just set it up because it’s close to the office.” Logan says, explaining the actual reasoning behind the housing situation. “Ah. Oh, you’re right, nice view.” Rory says, walking into Logan’s room. 

“You’re welcome to stay here whenever you want.” Logan says, meeting Rory by the window. “Logan I have an apartment, plus me moving in with you is not taking it slow.” “I know but I don’t particularly like living alone and I missed you.” “Yeah, but you’re going to see me every day at work, you’re coming to Stars Hollow in two weeks, I live two stops from here, and plus I was planning on going out with you when we can. Plus, I have a roommate that I like and I don’t feel like putting her on the streets.” Rory explains, turning to face Logan. As a response, he holds his hands up in innocence before speaking. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry for even bringing it up. But, if you or Holly need a place to stay-“ “Okay I got it. Thank you, Logan.” Rory says, trying not to feel glad that Logan confessed to missing her again.

 

After seeing the room, they go back to unpacking Logan’s belongings. Logan finished up the book shelf, which was noticeably emptier than it had been in London, but he left Rory’s pile of books untouched. Rory put excess belongings in the guest room and began breaking down the boxes left out in the foyer and living room of the apartment. 

“Are you up for dinner?” Logan asks, stepping out of his room where he was now hanging up clothes. “Yeah, but it’s like 3:00.” Rory says, putting down the broken-down box and walking towards him so she could hear better. “I didn’t mean now, I just meant do you want to stay for dinner? I could run to the store and cook something. I don’t really feel like going out.” He explains. “Oh yeah. That sounds perfect. Ooh! Could you make your paella that you made when you were in Stars Hollow?” She asks, now excited. “Will do. Okay I’ll run to the store now to get stuff. You’ll be okay here on your own?” Rory nods her head in response and tilts her head up to kiss him. He steps into his room to grab a jacket and gathers his phone and wallet and heads towards the door. “Thank you!” Rory calls when he reaches the door. “Of course.” He says simply before leaving and Rory smiles at the comfort of those words. 

After a few minutes of being in Logan’s apartment alone and putting away a few of his things, Rory’s phone rings. “Hey mom.” “Hey hon. I really ought to just have you on the phone all day if we’re going to call each other three times a day.” “I agree. So, what’s up?” “Luke says he’s in for dinner.” “Oh great! I call Grandma and tell her. By the way, I finally got Logan to cave in and tell me why he wants to come?” “Ooh do tell! Wait are you still with him, it might be a little awkward if you’re spilling about him while he’s in the room.” “Oh no, he went to the store to get stuff to make dinner.”

“Ooh. Okay spill!” “He said that he wanted to prove that he loved me and that I meant a lot to him and that he wasn’t going to hurt me again.” “He’s going to do that in one dinner?” “I guess so, but I thought it was really sweet that he’s making an effort to show you and Luke and grandma and grandpa that I made a good decision.” “I agree! He’s not exactly my favorite person, but he worked his way up pretty high the first time, so maybe he can do it again, but he’s going to have to fight a lot harder this time.” “I know he’s not your favorite person, but I’m happy and I’m glad he’s here.” “I know, hon.” 

“Oh, by the way, you’re Logan’s second or third favorite person in Stars Hollow, in case you were wondering.” “Oh you know I was. Who am I behind?” “Right now it’s me and Taylor. It’s a pretty tight race.” “How am I behind Taylor?” “I made the same point.” “Well at least we’re on the same page. Okay honey. I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” “Bye, mom.” 

After finishing her call with her mom, Rory quickly goes to call her grandma and let her know they would be having dinner with them. “Hey Grandma!” “Oh hello Rory it’s so nice to hear from you. How are you?” “I’m good. How are you?” “Oh, excellent. We just had a great DAR event and it was a hit.” Emily enthuses. “That’s great, Grandma! So, Logan is coming to Stars Hollow with me for Christmas, and he wanted to have dinner with you, grandpa, mom, and Luke the Friday before Christmas.” 

“Logan Huntzberger?” Emily says, sounding shocked. “That’s the one. He came back to New York to help his dad run his company and we’re dating again.” Rory explains, and Emily gasps over the line. “Rory, that’s fantastic! Your kids would be so cute!” She enthuses, clearly excited about the return of her favorite of Rory’s beaus. “Yeah, I’m glad he’s back. So, does dinner sound good? I already asked my mom and her and Luke are on board.” “Dinner sounds wonderful! Maybe I could get lamb…” She trails off. “Okay, great! I’ll see you soon Grandma!” “Yes, thank you for calling Rory!” 

After the call, Rory goes back to her reading until Logan arrives back home, armed with food for dinner. “Hey! That was quick!” Rory says, standing up to meet him. “Miss me, Ace?” Logan asks, grinning at her. “Hush you! I was just saying hi you’re back.” “Hi. I’m back.” “Indeed. Do you need help putting this stuff away?” Rory asks, grabbing one of the bags from his hands and ruffling through it. “That would be great. I got some stuff for the rest of the week so I wouldn’t have to make another trip.” He explains and they walk towards the kitchen. 

They put the newly bought groceries away, Rory every couple items holding one up as if to ask where it went. Once they were done, Logan began prepping the meal, and ordered Rory to go cut something up. After a minute or so of chopping in silence, Logan perks up. “So we never got around to talking about what we’re going to be doing in Stars Hollow over Christmas.” “Oh yes. It got interrupted by your excitement over dinner. Speaking of which, my mom called and said Luke was on board and I called my grandma and she is very excited.” “I’m glad.” 

“So what is there to do in Stars Hollow this time of year?” Logan asks, going back to the topic of Stars Hollow. “Well, you are in for a treat. Taylor is actually planning a hay bale maze-“ “Ace!” “Okay, okay. Sadly, we missed the Revolutionary War Reenactment,” “Oh bummer!” I know, but no one really watches it. But, the Winter Carnival will be in full swing when we get there, like I told you. But that’s always a fun event. And it hasn’t snowed yet, but hopefully it will when we’re there, so the Snowman Competition can happen.” “It hasn’t snowed yet? In Connecticut?” “I know it’s weird. My mom is probably doing something to hold it off until we get there.” “Your mom does not have power over the snow.” Logan says, laughing a little, but Rory cocks her head at him and raises her eyebrows. “Never underestimate the powers of Lorelai Gilmore. When we went to London for Christmas, she held off the snow till after Christmas.” Logan shakes his head in response. 

“You’re going to love Stars Hollow during Christmas.” Rory says, sighing and looking at Logan in admiration. “I know. It was great and there weren’t even decorations. Just a lot of hay.” He says, putting down his knife and walks over to Rory. “You don’t think Taylor would do a hay bale maze in the middle of winter, right?” She asks, turning to face him and put her arms around his waist. Laughing, he responds, “I don’t think so and I hope not because the clean-up would be unfathomable. What with the snow and the hay? That’s not a very good combination.” “I agree. I think the most probable option is a maze made of ice.” Logan laughs at her comment. “That would be interesting. Igloo-esc?” “That’s what I was thinking.” Rory responds and Logan reaches up and moves a piece of hair from out of her face.

The simple way he looked at her was enough to melt anyone’s heart, no matter how cold. She was his entire world, and you could tell from just one slight glance. “I’m so glad you’re coming.” “Me too.” The conversation ends, but the silence isn’t awkward. After a minute of Logan holding Rory in his arms, he kisses her on the cheek. “We should get back to cooking, right?” “Yes. I’m starving.” Rory responds, turning back to the counter and picking up her knife again.


	8. An Attempt at Movie Night

A little while later, dinner is complete and the small kitchen table is set. “I feel like I didn’t really do anything to help.” Rory says, sitting as Logan serves her. “That’s because you didn’t.” He responds, laughing and putting food on his own plate. “Hey! Blame my mom! Plus, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it.” Rory exclaims, laughing but trying to defend herself. “You seem to have forgotten everything I taught you.” Logan says, smirking slightly and tilting his head at Rory. “I still know how to chop vegetables, but if I’m honest, that wasn’t high on my list of things to remember from college.” “It probably should have been. Especially since you need food to live.” “Well now I have you so I don’t need to know how to cook.” “That you do.” Logan responds, smiling lovingly at Rory, who gives him the same look back.

“So have you told Honor yet?” Rory asks, beginning to eat her food. “Have I told Honor what? That we’re back together?” “No, dummy, that you’re not spending Christmas with her. You don’t need to tell anyone we’re back together. I mean unless you want to, then you can, but you don’t have to tell Honor or anyone.” Rory rambles. “Oh, no I haven’t.” Logan says. “And I was planning on telling her we’re back together. I mean first because she was the first person I told when we first got together.” “That’s a lot of firsts.” Logan smiles and tilts his head slightly as if he was saying ‘let me finish’. “And secondly because she means a lot to me and you mean a lot to me, so I figured she should know.” Logan says. 

“So you’re comfortable with telling her that we’re back together?” Rory says, smiling to herself. “Yeah, I mean basically all your family knows, I figured I ought to tell her. Plus, she loves you.” Rory nods her head in agreement. “Makes sense.” “I thought so.” 

“Dinner is really good, by the way.” “Thank you. I thought so too.” “Okay, Huntzberger. I give you one compliment and then your head grows three sizes.” Rory says laughing, hitting Logan’s arm lightly from across the table. “Hey I did say thank you!” Logan defends, holding his hands up. “That you did. It was a good attempt to disguise the cockiness.” Rory says, smiling. “Hey!” Logan says, dropping his hands loudly onto the table. “Okay, I guess I forgive you, but only this one time.” Rory says smiling and grabbing his hands. “Oh good. Thanks.” Logan says, rubbing his thumb across Rory’s hand.

“Do you want to stay and watch a movie?” Logan asks, picking up his and Rory’s plates and setting them in the sink. “Aren’t you sick of me by now?” Rory asks, standing up and rolling up her sleeves so she could help wash the dishes. “Never.” Logan says, leaning over to kiss her. “Well in that case, a movie sounds great.” Rory says, smiling up at him. “It’s not going to be anything like you and your mom’s insane movie nights but I can run to the store and get some stuff to prepare.” Logan says, beginning to wash the dishes. “We can go together.” She says, drying the dish that Logan hands to her. “You sure? You can stay here, I don’t mind.” “No I want to go. Plus, you would probably get all the wrong stuff.” Rory says, and Logan smiles at her, “yeah you’re right.” 

“It’s not a Friday night so it’s not really an official movie night.” Rory says, as they walk down the brightly lit street to the nearby Target. “Am I ever going to get to attend one of these acclaimed events?” Logan asks, grabby Rory’s hand. “Well they are by invite-only and it is very hard to get invited.” Rory says, tilting her head to make a point. “Is that a no?” “There will probably be more than one while you’re in Stars Hollow.” Rory confesses, and Logan grins. “I can’t believe I finally made it into the club. It only took 5 years.” Logan says, laughing and shaking his head. 

“Well, I would say once you’re in, you’re in for life, but that hasn’t always been the case.” Rory says, and Logan gives her a weird look. “Not that I want you to go! That’s not the case at all! It’s just, Jess and Dean both attended Friday movie nights on a semi-regular basis, but they didn’t stick around.” Rory says, looking down. “I’m a little offended that I dated you the longest and I’ve never gotten to experience a Friday movie night, but I’m just going to roll with it.” Logan says, trying to reassure Rory. “I’m sorry.” “For what? You’ve had other boyfriends that lived in Stars Hollow and have been to your house. I understand. It’s understandable, Rory. Ace, you’re amazing and so beautiful, I would be astonished, and frankly a little confused if you hadn’t had a boyfriend before me.” Logan says, stopping to turn to face Rory. “Well, Jess did kind of hate it.” “Well then he’s an ass.” “You felt that way before I told you that.” “Shh, no one needs to know that.” Logan says, causing Rory to laugh. 

“Sorry about my comment. It was weird and I shouldn’t have said it.” Rory says, once they’ve started to walk again. “It’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry for.” Logan says, lifting her hand and kissing her knuckles. “I’m just honored to be included.” He says, and Rory looks at him and smiles. 

“Movie night isn’t going to be the same because we already had a real dinner.” Rory says, once they’ve stepped into the store. Logan reaches to grab a basket, and looks at Rory with a confused look. “When has a real meal stopped you in the past?” He asks. “I mean you make a good point, but usually on Friday movie nights, at least before we went to my grandparents for a real meal, we would get Luke’s or pizza, or Chinese, or all of them. I mean we would do that after we went to my grandparents too, but dinner lasted so long and it was a long ride home, so we were hungry by the time we got back to Stars Hollow.” Rory says, and they begin to walk to the junk food section of the store. “Do you want to order pizza or Chinese when we get back home?” Logan asks, and Rory notices that he calls his apartment home. It makes her feel weird, but in a good way. Even though they had only been dating for a day, it had felt like no time had passed from their time at Yale. 

“Eh. I’m okay. Your dinner was really filling. That being said, we do still need the other movie essentials.” Rory says, grabbing Logan’s hand and leading them to the candy aisle. “What are the Gilmore movie essentials?” Logan says, chuckling at his girlfriend. “Pop tarts, of course.” “Of course.” “Twizzlers, marshmallows, chips, jelly beans, chocolate.” Rory begins, grabbing things off the shelves, and Logan just smiles in response. “Anything else?” “Maybe some coffee? Or alcohol?” Rory says, which causes Logan to chuckle once more. “What are you laughing at, mister?” Rory exclaims, hitting Logan lightly on the chest. “Oh nothing, this is a very serious matter.” He says, trying to stop his laughter. “That’s correct.” Rory says definitively. 

“Are we set on supplies?” Logan asks, after Rory debated over what flavor of pop tarts to get. (Brown sugar cinnamon was of course the final choice.) “I think so. Thank you!” Rory says, taking the blueberry pop tarts out of the basket and replacing them with the cinnamon ones. “When Babette’s cat, Cinnamon died, there was a wake for her at Babette’s house and everyone in town came and brought food.” Rory said out of the blue. The name of the pop tarts reminding her of Babette’s antics. “God, I love that town of yours.” “I’m glad.” Rory says, and they make their way to the check out. 

“So are there any cat ceremonies scheduled for when we’re in town or do they lean more towards being spontaneous events?” Logan asks, as the cashier scans their items. “Usually spontaneous, but we can check the Town of Stars Hollow Website and see.” “How is this the first time I am hearing about the Town of Stars Hollow website?” Logan asks, emphasizing ‘Town of Stars Hollow website’, and his eyes showed a level of shock, causing Rory to laugh. “I thought I told you about it! Plus, I figured you’d do your research on Stars Hollow beforehand and find it. Though, I did think it was weird you didn’t mention it.” Rory muses, while Logan grabs the bags.

“Oh shoot. I forgot. Back in 2007 I think, Kirk lost the password to the website and it hasn’t been updated since then.” Rory says, making a frustrated face. “Ace! How will I know about the cat ceremonies in the Town of Stars Hollow now?!” Logan exclaims, and they both burst into laughter. “I don’t know, I’m sorry!” Rory says, still laughing. “I still want to see the website.” Logan says, a few seconds later. “I figured.” Rory responds. 

“I feel like you don’t actually like Stars Hollow as much as you say you do, you just like to make fun of it.” Rory says, kind of joking, but Logan could sense the seriousness in her voice. “Okay, you know that is not true, I really do like Stars Hollow. It is a very charming place, but it does have some oddities that even you make fun of.” Logan defends. “But you seriously do have to show me this website.” “It is pretty great.” Rory says, less stiff then she was a minute ago. 

When they arrive back to Logan’s apartment, Rory takes the groceries out of the bags, and Logan walks to his room to get his laptop. “Please, your majesty, show me the Town of Stars Hollow website.” Logan says, presenting his laptop to Rory, causing her to laugh. “Come here, you. We can look at it together.” She says, grabbing his hand and the laptop, and leading him to the couch. As she types in the url, Logan puts his arm around her and kisses her head. “Oh my god this is amazing. Click on the town updates.” Logan says, taking in the website.

The first thing that pops up is information about Rory’s farewell party, as well as a transcript of Taylor’s speech. “Okay, Taylor is fascinating, but that speech is terrible.” Logan says, shaking his head. “He was right, the hay bale maze was great.” Logan says, once he reaches the hay bale maze entry. “I’m a little offended there isn’t anything about me, especially since everything before this has been about you.” “Hey, we talked earlier about the big head.” Rory says, shooting Logan a joking mean glance. “Okay, okay, but still, the daughter of Stars Hollow’s boyfriend isn’t featured? What kind of news source is this?” Logan asks, laughing. 

Logan continues to make commentary as they read through the posts on the website. “I have to admit, I’ve never read all of the entries on this website.” Rory says, and Logan looks astonished. “How could you not? This is incredible.” “I’ve read a couple but Kirk and Taylor aren’t the best wordsmiths.” Rory says, grimacing a little.   
“The ice cream queen?” “Oh god no.” “Oh yes.” Rory had dozed off slightly while Logan was perusing the website. “The ice cream queen is too busy for town participation? Rory I’m honestly ashamed.” “In my defense, I didn’t even sign up for the role.” “Yeah you don’t sign up to be queen, jeez, Ace, you went to Yale.” Logan says, sounding fake-disappointed. “Oh shut up,” Rory says, going back to leaning her head on Logan’s chest. 

After a few minutes, Logan shakes Rory’s shoulder slightly to wake her. “Hey, Ace. Do you want me to take you home?” “No, we haven’t even watched our movie.” She says, whining a bit. “Hey, it’s okay, we have plenty of time for movies.” He says softly. “You can sleep here if you want, but I figured you wanted to go home.” He says, allowing her to remain with most her upper body on his. “Home sounds good, but I don’t want to move.” She says, closing her eyes again, and snuggling closer to Logan. “Do you want to stay here?” He asks, unsure of what to do with the half-asleep Rory. “We’re still taking it slow. Me sleeping over here is not taking it slow.” Rory says, more awake this time, but her body unmoving. “I agree, but I can sleep on the couch and you can sleep in the bed if you don’t want to go home. I’m guessing you didn’t sleep well last night because you’re falling asleep and it’s not even 9:00.” Rory shrugs, and begins to sit up more. 

“I can take you home, or you can sleep here. It’s up to you.” Logan says again once Rory is sitting up all the way. “Can you take me home?” She asks, not really wanting to go home. “I’m sorry I fell asleep, too much wine and too much moving of boxes today.” “It’s okay, Ace. I understand. We can have our movie night another day.”


	9. Apartment Tours

“Hello?” “Hey, Honor!” “Logan! I thought this was a misdial!” “Nope, it’s an actual phone call. I didn’t wake you up, did I?” “I can’t believe you finally figured it out! And no. Josh and I just got home from dinner.” “Ha-ha, very funny. But good.” “So, what’s up?” “I’m actually not going to be able to spend Christmas with you and Josh.” Logan explains slowly, putting his hand on his neck. “Logan! Are you spending it on some island with those idiots Colin and Finn?” “No, I’m actually spending it with Rory.” “Rory? As in Rory Gilmore? As in Yale Rory? As in the Rory you almost married but then she said no?” “Yes…”

“Hasn’t it been two years since you’ve seen her?” “It’s kind of a long story.” “Logan!” “Okay, okay. She’s working at the company Dad’s company just bought, and there was a gala to kind of merge the companies and she was there and we had dinner and we’re kind of dating again.” “That’s so great!” “Wait, really?” “Yes, really! I love Rory! She’s great!” Honor exclaims, causing Logan to grin. 

“I know you loved her and she loved you, so it’s great that you’re back together.” Honor says again. “Yeah. It’s great, she’s great.” Logan says, smiling and thinking about Rory. “Yay! Well I’m glad Rory is back and that you’re spending Christmas with her!” Honor says happily, obviously meaning her words. “Thanks, Honor. I’m glad you’re okay with it.” “I’m more than okay with it. She’d be a great sister-in-law.” Honor replies, causing Logan to laugh. “We’re a little far from that, but thank you, Honor, really.” “Of course, little brother. Now is that all the earth-shattering news you had to share, or is there anything else?” “That’s all.” “Well, I’ll let you go. Listen, we should have dinner next week. Bring Rory.” “Okay I’ll ask.” “Thank you!” “Of course. Love you, Honor.” “Love you, too.” 

After Logan had dropped Rory off at her apartment, he had gone home and called Honor. He was surprised she had answered since it was kind of late, but she had probably saw his name and known it was important. While the call could’ve waited until tomorrow, it felt necessary to call her and let her know. He was glad that she knew and that she was happy for him, she had always been a big fan of Rory and the fact that that maintained over time was great. After going over some stuff for work, Logan finally went to sleep, still thinking about Honor’s approval. 

The next morning, Rory sleeps in again, the day at Logan’s had been long and she had been a little drunk that night. She wakes up with a text from Logan telling her to text when she awoke and a text from her mom announcing that there were only twelve days until she would arrive in Stars Hollow. She texted her mom back enthusing her excitement and texted Logan that she was awake. Holly wouldn’t be getting back until late afternoon, so Rory enjoyed the empty apartment while she could by blasting her music and making her coffee before starting on some work. 

After a few minutes, her phone dings with a response from Logan who tells her to call her. “Hey, Logan. What’s up?” She says, calling him once she reads the text. “Morning, Ace. How are you?” “I’m good, how about you?” Rory says, pouring her coffee and sitting down at the counter. “Good. So I called Honor last night and told her I couldn’t stay with her for Christmas.” “Oh, how was that?” Rory asks, concerned about Honor’s response. “She’s happy for me, for us. She loves you, don’t you remember?” Logan asks, and Rory responds. She was glad the feeling of likeness was still mutual between her and Honor. “I’m glad. And yes, I do remember. I like her too.” Rory says, and Logan smiles, even though he knows Rory can’t see him. 

“Well, now that that’s settled, what are you up to today, Ace?” Rory sighs. “Nothing really, I mean aside from conquering New York.” She says, casually and she can hear Logan laughing over the line. “Is that a one-person job or do you have a team?” “Nope, just me. I can’t trust anyone else for the job.” “Oh of course. How could I be so stupid? Obviously conquering New York is a one-person job.” Rory laughs, and then actually answers Logan’s question. 

“I’m going to do some work stuff. I have an idea for a story and I’m going to write a little bit to see if I can make it work before I try and pitch it to my boss.” Rory explains and sips her coffee again. “Well that’s a lot less exciting.” “I know, I’m sorry. What are you up to today?” “I don’t have anything in mind. If you needed company or someone to look over your writing or to entertain you, then I’m free.” “Is that your way of asking if you can come over?” Rory asks, laughing. 

“If I say it’s because I miss you would you believe me?” “Logan you saw me about 10 hours ago.” Rory says, laughing but truly feeling touched. “Okay, and? I have to compensate for not seeing you for two years somehow.” “Aren’t you tired of seeing me? We’ve seen each other for extended periods of time three days in a row now.” “Rory, we talked about this. I’m never tired of spending time with you.” “Okay, but only if you really want to!” “I really want to!” “Plus, we can watch that movie like we discussed last night. I’ll see you in about an hour?” “See you in an hour.” Rory says, and hangs up the phone. 

It was crazy how she went from seeing Logan every day, to not seeing him for two whole years, to seeing him every day again. Too add to this weekend, she would be seeing him at work, and they were going to Stars Hollow together in twelve days. It was a lot of time together, but it felt normal. To be fair, they had lived together for a while at Yale, but even then, they had different schedules and now they were more aligned than ever. 

An hour later, Logan arrives at Rory’s apartment, armed with coffee, a movie, and a newspaper. “Hey you.” Rory says, opening the door. “Hey. Good morning.” Logan says, stepping into the apartment and kissing Rory on the cheek. “Ooh you brought the paper.” Rory says excitedly, spying the newspaper in Logan’s hand. Logan laughs at her response, and hands her the newspaper. “I don’t think I’ve met anyone who gets that excited over the newspaper.” Logan says, laughing again and taking his coat off.

“I also brought coffee, but I see you beat me to that one.” Logan says as he walks into the apartment and sees Rory’s empty mug. “Yeah but, I will never turn down free coffee.” Rory says, accepting the coffee. “I know.” Logan replies, smiling at Rory. 

“So have you started conquering New York yet?” Logan asks, once he’s sat down next to Rory at her kitchen counter. “No, I have to read the newspaper and make sure no one did it yesterday.” “You would think we would know if we were being conquered.” “Maybe they’re a silent conquer-er.” Rory says, without looking up from her half of the paper. “Maybe.” Logan says, chuckling slightly, and gazing at Rory with his trademark fond look.  
After a few minutes of reading, with mild arguments about Logan’s slow reading, Rory stretches her arms and walks across the room to fetch her laptop. “So what’s your new idea of an article about?” Logan asks curiously, looking at Rory who was on the other side of the room, before turning the page of his newspaper. “I thought I’d do some projections of what the democratic party will look like in 2010 and what the elections are going to look like, per the polls right now, along with what Obama has done in the first year of his presidency.” Rory explained, grabbing her laptop and making her way back to her seat at the counter. 

“Sounds interesting.” “I hope so. Condé Nast has a group of people who write about politics, and first, I’m really trying to get into that group, but also this is more specific than anything they’ve written this month, so hopefully it’ll fly with my boss.” “Well if it doesn’t, then I can probably overrule him and let you publish it.” “What exactly is your job?” “You know, my dad wasn’t really specific on it. I’m basically in charge of the company, but not really. That’s about as in-depth as he got.” Logan says, sipping his own coffee. 

“Sounds confusing.” “Well, I’ve barely started working there, plus I won’t be doing all of my work here.” Logan explains. “Right.” Rory responds as she begins typing an outline. Logan takes his time reading the rest of the newspaper, and by the time he’s done, Rory’s outline is done and she has a good idea as to what she wants to pitch to her boss. He’s no Paris, but he won’t accept it if she doesn’t have a whole outline and summary ready for him to look over. 

“I forgot to tell you. Honor wants to have dinner with us.” Logan says, as Rory closes her laptop. “That sounds great. When?” “Next week. She didn’t say an exact day, but if you have a day you prefer I can let her know.” “Okay, yeah any time next week works. I don’t have any plans.” Rory says, looking over at Logan. 

“So, I’m a little offended I never got a tour of the apartment, but I guess I can just figure out where the bathroom is myself.” Logan says, standing up and pushing the stool back under the counter. “I will give you a tour after you go to the bathroom. Which is down the hall before the door.” Rory says, giving Logan an annoyed face. 

“So do you have any maps?” Logan asks, once he’s back in the kitchen. “Oh, no, sorry. The last group of tourists took them.” Rory says, standing up. “Well, I guess I’ll have to draw one myself.” “I guess so.” 

“So this is the kitchen.” “Hmm. It’s a little messy.” Logan says, squinting his eyes at the empty coffee mug and the newspaper on the counter. “Damn those tourists.” Rory says. “Okay our next room is the living room. It’s conveniently located right in front of the kitchen counter; this is the optimal location for this room since it is so close to the food.” “Hmm. Interesting layout design. Do you think it’s really the safest choice?” Logan asks, clearly messing with Rory. “Well, I was actually the lead architect on this fifty-year old building, so yes I do think so.” Rory says, resisting the urge to laugh.

“Well, I don’t agree with you, but that’s okay. What’s the next room?” “Well right next to the living room is my room. Holly decided that I could have it since grandma and grandpa are paying rent.” “Makes sense.” Logan says, and Rory grabs his hand and leads him into her room. 

Once they’re in the room, Logan’s eyes immediately go to the large rocket ship on Rory’s windowsill. “You kept it.” He says, his voice just barely above a whisper. “Of course I kept it. How could I not?” Rory says, looking at Logan, hand still firmly grasping his. After a second, he pulls her into a tight hug. “You kept it.” He repeats. “I never stopped loving you.” Rory says, and Logan loosens his grip, kisses her on the forehead and keeps one armed wrapped around Rory’s back.

“I can’t believe you kept it.” He says, after a minute of silence. “I can’t believe you thought I would throw it away or get rid of it.” “I don’t know. I mean I thought you really disliked me and didn’t want anything to do with me.” “Just because you ended it with me, doesn’t mean I wanted it to end.” Rory explains, sounding a bit sad, and Logan looks down, but doesn’t remove his hand from Rory’s back. 

“And don’t apologize again. I know you’re sorry. I just needed to say that. I know you still love me and I know you know I wasn’t ready. Just know that I still love you, always have, always will.” “Okay.” Logan says simply, kissing the top of Rory’s head. He didn’t want to argue with Rory, he knew she was right. Nonetheless, he still felt bad for the actions he took two years ago, but he needed to move on and realize that he had Rory now and she wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Shall we continue the tour?” “We shall.” Logan squeezes her shoulder and she grabs his hand again and leads him out of the room. “So next is Holly’s room, which is very small and probably very messy.” Rory says before opening her roommate’s door. “Should you really be showing me the room of your roommate who isn’t home?” Logan asks, tilting his head at Rory. “Honestly, Holly probably could not care less about who sees her room.” She says, leading him into the room. “Well I can’t argue with that. Wow it is small.” “I know. I kind of feel bad because my room is so much bigger.” “But then where would your books go?” “Okay you’re right.”

“Speaking of which, I totally forgot to bring your books with me. I looked at them this morning and reminded myself to bring them but I totally forgot.” Logan says and Rory leads them back out to the living room. “Oh that’s okay. I forgot to grab them last night.” “Hence why they’re still at my apartment. By the way, was that the end of the tour?” 

“Oh yeah. I told you. Small apartment.” “There was no commencement speech. I don’t think this was worth my money.” Logan says, causing Rory to laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t have the commencement speech memorized.” “Honestly, the armatures working here.” “I know, I’m sorry.” “It’s unacceptable.” Logan says, leading them over to the couch. 

“Can we watch that movie now?” Rory asks, once they’re sitting down. “Sure. Even though we don’t have the proper supplies?” “We’ll have to make do. Plus it’s early, but there are some snacks for an emergency movie showing in the cupboard.”

“Do you want some pop tarts?” Logan asks once he’s over to the kitchen area. “That sounds great.” After Logan turns the TV on and pops the undisclosed movie into the DVD, he sits back on the couch, pop tarts in hand. He lifts his arm and Rory slides under it again and the name of the movie shows up on the screen.


	10. Officially Official

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry I was absent for so long! Senior year is hard, and I hate it, but it's all good because I am back for now!

Towards the end of the movie, Rory and Logan hear a key being inserted and turned in the lock on the door. Realizing that her roommate was arriving home, Rory quickly tried to scoot a respectable distance away from Logan. Looking at Rory’s wide eyes, Logan shoots her a confused glance, obviously not putting it together that Rory had yet to tell Holly. “Hey Rory are you home?” Holly calls, once the door has been opened. “Yeah, I’m home!” Rory called back, and grabbed her phone, trying to erase the bewildered look off her face.

“Hey. Noah’s here too. Sorry.” Holly says, appearing in the kitchen from the hallway. “That’s fine, Logan’s here too, obviously.” Rory says, standing up and gesturing to Logan, who also began to rise from the couch. “Hey, Logan.” “Hey, Holly.” Holly winks to Rory and takes her coat off and sets it on the counter. 

“Hey, Noah. How are you?” Rory asks, walking over to Holly’s boyfriend. “I’m good, how about you, Rory?” He asks and smiles at Rory. “I’m good. Oh, Noah, this is Logan.” Rory says, gesturing once again to Logan, who had followed her over to the kitchen. “Nice to meet you, Logan.” Noah says, reaching out to shake Logan’s hand. “Right back at you.” 

“So, how was your weekend?” Rory asks, looking over at Holly. “It was good, cold, though.” Holly replies. “What were you guys up to?” Holly asks again, looking at the TV. “We were watching Annie Hall.” Rory replies. “Oh fun.” “Did you want to go out to lunch or something?” Rory asks, glancing over at Logan, who seemed to be hitting it off with Noah. “Yeah sure. You guys can finish your movie while I unpack and then we can go.” Holly says, grabbing her coat from off the counter and walking to her room. 

“Hey, do you want to finish the movie then go out to lunch?” Rory asks, once she walked over to where Noah and Logan were standing. “Yeah, sure. That sounds good.” Logan replies, and Noah nods his head as a response. “I’m assuming Holly went in her room?” Noah asks, pointing his thumb in that direction. “Yes.” Rory replies, and Noah turns and walks into the room. 

Grabbing Rory’s hand, Logan leads her over to the couch and turns the movie back on. When he sits down, he lifts his arm once again, so Rory can lean on his side, but she just shakes her head. “Holly is right there! I haven’t told her yet!” Rory says in a sort of a shouting whisper. “So? You’re an adult, she doesn’t have control over you.” Logan says, grabbing Rory’s hand once again and pulling her closer, but she stays a good distance from him. 

“Why don’t you want to tell her?” Logan asks. “I don’t know! She’ll probably say ‘I told you so’.” “What does that mean?” “I don’t know. The night before the gala, I was telling her about you, and I told her that seeing you again would be weird, and that you probably wouldn’t want to talk to me.” “But that wasn’t the case.” “Nope.” “Okay well, it’s not like she’ll be mad.” “No she won’t. She’ll be happy.” Rory says, sighing. 

“So, just go tell her.” “I’ll do it tonight. I don’t want her to see us together and think that I was hiding this from her.” “Okay.” Logan says, simply, and allows himself to fall back into the couch. “You know you’re taking this way out of proportion.” “I know.” Rory replies, also sinking back into the couch.

An hour later, they’re at a table at a small restaurant. “So, Logan, any plans for the holidays?” Holly asks, curious to get to know him more. Before Logan can respond, Rory interjects. “He’s actually coming to Stars Hollow with me. His parents are away and his sister is spending it with her husband, so I asked him to come.” “I can’t believe I still haven’t been to your hometown.” Holly says, sighing. “I’ve been asking you to come for months now!” Rory defends. “I know, I know, don’t get defensive, Gilmore.” 

Logan chuckles at their banter, and under the table he grabs Rory’s hand. “I also want to see the mystical town of Stars Hollow. Even the same sounds magical.” Noah says, grinning at Holly. “Oh it’s great.” Logan says. “He finds it extremely fascinating.” Rory says, laughing and pointing her thumb at Logan. “Oh all small towns are extremely fascinating.” Noah says. “He sounds like Paris, circa 2000.” Rory says, and her and Logan chuckle.

The rest of lunch is filled with laughter, and after a bit, they travel back to Holly and Rory’s apartment. Both the boys grab their things and head back to their respective homes to finish up their Sunday. “So you and little Huntzberger seemed pretty cozy.” Holly says, raising one eyebrow at Rory. 

“Yeah about that…” “Rory!” “Logan and I got back together after our date.” “Rory that’s great! He’s great!” Holly exclaims and runs over to hug her roommate. “Yeah, I’m really, really happy.” Rory says, smiling widely. “I’m glad!” Holly exclaims. 

“I can’t believe he’s coming to Stars Hollow for Christmas.” Rory says. “I mean I feel like it wasn’t that long ago that he was there for the first time.” “Probably because it wasn’t.” Holly says, sitting down on the couch. “I know, but it’s different. I mean I’m like an actual adult now, I’m not at Yale anymore… It’s weird.” “Yeah, I know. How does your mom feel about it?” “Well, she was never Logan’s biggest fan, especially after he proposed, knowing I wasn’t ready. Well, I thought he knew I wasn’t ready, I mean how could I do that? He should’ve known I had to start my career before I did that… sorry.” Rory says, sighing deeply after her little ramble. 

After a minute of silence, Rory continues, “he had this whole reason for wanting to see my grandparents and convince my mom and them that he was worthy of me, basically. It was really sweet, and my mom seemed to appreciate it.” “That’s good” Holly says, emphasizing her words and looking at Rory. “It doesn’t seem like she’s upset, and even though you look a little fazed right now, you seemed happy tonight.” “I know, I just don’t think it really set-in. I mean it’s definitely going to be a thing, we’re going to his sister’s house for dinner next week, then we’ll be in Stars Hollow, it’s just all happened so quickly.” “I know, but it is going to work out. I know it.” Holly says, standing up and winking at Rory before going into her room.


	11. A Huntzerger Friday Night Dinner

On Thursday of that week, Logan comes home with Rory and Holly for a night of tacos and a movie. “So, Paris texted me.” Rory said, sitting on the couch. “Uh oh.” Logan replies, plopping down next to her with the brown paper bag. “It’s not an uh oh, we talk all the time.” Rory says, hitting Logan lightly on the chest. “Have you met Paris?” Logan asks, looking at Holly. Holly nods, eyes wide, mouth full of taco. “Crazy?” Logan asks and Holly nods, then crosses the room to go into her bedroom. “See, your roommate agrees with me.” Logan said, raising his eyebrows at Rory. “She has calmed over the years.” Rory says.

“Anyways, Paris texted me and said that she and Doyle were coming into the city for the weekend.” “Why?” Logan asks, and Rory gives him an annoyed look and he raises his hands up in defense of himself. “All I’m saying is I’m still a little scared of her.” He says, reaching for his taco out of the bag. “If you must know, she wanted to come see me-“ “I’m sorry what?” “I’m her best friend, Logan! You know this!” “Yeah I didn’t know it was still a thing, I mean I know you guys can’t really seem to get rid of each other, but I figured you would grow apart after college.” “Anyways, she’s coming to see me and because her mom is in New York this weekend for some event, I don’t remember the specifics.” 

“Okay, so…” Logan says. “So, she wanted to go out to dinner on Saturday, and I know we have dinner with Honor and Josh on Friday, but I wanted to know if you wanted to come.” “I mean, she scares me, but yes. I don’t really know how you’re still friends with her or how you became friends at all for that matter, but yes.” “It’s been a long and rough 8 years or so, but I’ve really grown quite attached to her, and thank you, you’re the best, despite your slightly rude comments.” Rory says, kissing Logan on the cheek and grabbing her taco out of the bag. 

“On the plus side, you can probably still scare Doyle quite a bit.” Rory says, after taking a bite of her taco. “Oh you’re right! Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.” Logan says, grinning at Rory. “You’re terrible.” Rory says, smiling back at him. 

“So is Paris staying here?” Logan asks after eating more of his taco. “Yes, Holly’s going away for the weekend with her boyfriend again, so it worked out perfectly.” Rory says, nodding towards Holly’s room. “She stays with him a lot on the weekends.” Rory explains. 

“I’m sorry for saying those things about you two being friends.” Logan says, feeling sorry for his comments. “It’s okay, I know she’s a lot. I don’t know we’re just very bonded in a way, and I mean it, she has gotten more mellow over the years.” “I know, I know. I will play nice with Paris while she’s here.” Logan says, sighing and putting his arm around Rory. “I appreciate it.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Logan says, rolling his eyes a little, but kissing Rory lightly on her temple. 

“So we’ll just go to Honor’s from work?” Logan asks on his way out of the apartment. They had watched their movie and it had gotten late. “Yeah, that sounds good.” “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Logan finishes, kissing Rory gently on the lips, letting it linger for a few seconds. “Bye.” Rory says, smiling.

The next day, Logan meets Rory at her desk at the end of the workday, her jacket in his arm. “Hey, Ace, ready to go?” He asks, and she stands up, nodding her head. After the hour long car ride, they finally arrive at Honor and Josh’s house in Connecticut. 

“She doesn’t hate me right?” Rory asks suddenly once they have arrived at the house. “Who? Honor? She loves you, Rory.” Logan says, giving Rory a concerned look. “I mean, I did break off our relationship and she loved us together, and I just don’t want her to hate me.” “She could never hate you, plus now we’re back together so all is well and right in the world.” Logan says, smiling reassuringly. 

The pair gets out of the car and starts up the long drive towards the house, and Logan notices the panic still in Rory’s eyes. “Rory, it’s going to be okay, I promise.” Logan says, grabbing Rory’s hand and kissing it lightly. 

Before they can even ring the bell, the door opens and Honor springs out to hug Logan. “You’re here!” She cries, once released from the tight embrace. “And Rory, it’s so nice to see you again!” Honor says, hugging Rory this time. Smiling, Logan mouths, “I told you” to Rory who just smiles back. 

Once the greetings were over, Honor leads them into the entryway of the house, where Josh stood politely. “Hey Josh.” Logan says, holding his hand out to shake Josh’s. Rory stays beside Logan, just smiling and waving slightly at Josh, who smiles back. 

“Let me take your coat, then we can go eat.” Skipping a drink, the group goes straight to the dining room. “Honor, mom would be ashamed of you, skipping drinks.” Logan says, his voice sarcastically ghastly. “Well, I figured you guys would be starving, seeing as it’s quite late to be eating, and since you both came from work.” She explained. “It’s perfect, Honor.” Rory says as they sit.

“So Rory, how have you been?” Honor asks, once they’ve sat down. “I’ve been good! I’m living in the city, and working at Condé Nast, and everything just seems to be fitting into place recently.” She replies, smiling at Logan. “What about you?” She asks. “Oh, I’ve been good. Mom came by the other day to tell me that she was off to the spa for a month, and that she’ll call once she’s through with her treatment.” She says, looking at Logan, who nods and rolls his eyes. 

They enjoy a dinner full of light banter and chatter, and Rory no longer feels insecure about Honor’s feelings towards her. She feels a new bond with her, and even Josh, who came off as quiet at first, but actually contributed to the conversation quite a bit.

“You two must come to visit more often.” Honor says as they’re walking towards the door. “We will.” Logan promises, hugging his sister before leaving. “Bye Honor, bye Josh. Thank you so much for having us.” Rory says, smiling at the pair. 

“Your sister doesn’t hate me!” Rory exclaims on their way to the car. “She’s always had a soft spot your you, Ace. I told you that.” “Yeah, I know, but it’s still nice to know. I’m really glad she doesn’t hate me because I like her a lot.” “I’m glad.” 

After an hour, the car stops outside Rory’s apartment building. “Paris texted me about a half an hour ago that she was going to be here late, her train got delayed, and they only started on their way a little bit ago.” Rory says. “Do you want to come up seeing as the apartment will be Paris free for a little longer?” Rory asks. “I’d love to.” Logan says, grinning.


	12. The Return of the Infamous Ms. Geller

As soon as they came up to the apartment, Rory had changed into sweatpants and her ‘reading is sexy’ t-shirt. “What’s with the sudden change of clothes?” Logan asked, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. “I’ve been in those clothes since 8 this morning, and I gotta tell you, they were not comfortable.” Rory replied, sitting on the couch. “I actually think I might have some pants and a shirt of yours here.” Rory says, as Logan sits down on the couch next to her. “I mean we ended things so abruptly, and it kind of just got pushed together with the rest of the stuff..” she rambled. “Go get them, I’ll change with you.” Logan says, smiling at Rory. 

“So, did you have a plan in mind when you asked me to come up?” Logan asked, figuring he should just be blunt. “Oh yes! So after you left last night, Holly and I were watching TV before we went to bed, and it must have been getting pretty late because ‘Twilight Zone’ came on.” “Okay… And?” “And, they were playing your favorite episode, so I recorded it and I figured we could watch it together again.” “I didn’t know you could still record things on TV.” Logan says, laughing slightly, but touched that Rory thought of him. 

Rory gets up to grab the remote and turns the TV on to find the recording. Once she sits back down, Logan lifts his arm so she can slide in underneath him. “I can’t believe you remembered this, I mean it is a miniscule thing. Also, I didn’t know they still played reruns of ‘Twilight Zone’.” “Well, mister, I am just teaching you so many things tonight.” “That you are.” Logan replies, as he leans down to kiss Rory gently. 

Without thinking about it, Rory deepens the kiss, and she’s pulling Logan even closer. Smiling, Logan pulls Rory on top of him, and the world around them seemed to melt away. After a few minutes, Logan pulls away, “Rory” he says, out of breath. “Logan” she says, concerned. “Taking it slow.” He reminds her. “Oh yeah, that.” She says, as he brushes a piece of her hair out of her face. She was still somewhat on top of him, but the kissing had ceased. “Also, Paris is coming, and I don’t think us having sex on your couch would be what she wants to see when she visits.” “I mean, you’re not wrong.” “I know.” Rory sits up so she can go back to resting her head on Logan’s chest as he starts the episode.

They get through the whole episode, and are sitting on the couch, chattering quietly when Rory’s phone dings, signaling a text. “That must be Paris.” Rory says, as she reaches to reach her phone on the coffee table and Logan audibly groans. “Hey, please play nice with her.” “I will, I already promised, but I promise again.” “Good boy.” Rory replies, and falls back into the couch. 

“Her train just got in so she should be here in a little less than an hour.” Rory says. “Good so we can stay here for a little longer.” “I’m surprised you’re not trying to make a run for it.” “Too tired, too comfortable.” Logan says, sighing and pulling Rory closer to him. “Well, sorry, but I’m going to put you to work.” Rory apologizes, kissing Logan on the cheek and standing up.” “Ace where are you going, she’s not going to be here for another hour.” Logan says sleepily, grabbing Rory’s hand and trying to pull her back down. “Yeah, exactly. I need to change the sheets on Holly’s bed and clean the bathroom.” “I thought you were going to do that earlier.” “I’ve been with you all day, when would I have done it?” Rory says, tilting her head at Logan.  
“Fine. I’ll help.” Logan says, pushing himself off the couch. “Good. Thank you!” Rory says cheerfully. They spend the next 30 minutes putting clean sheets on Holly’s bed, cleaning the bathroom, and running the dishwasher, preparing for Paris and Doyle’s arrival. Once Rory has declared it Paris ready, they return to their spot on the couch and wait. 

“You know, since it’s so late, you can just stay here tonight.” “Ace, we just talked about taking it slow.” “I know, but it’s really late and I don’t want you to get jumped on the subway or anything. What would Mitchum say if that’s how you died?” Rory asks, and Logan laughs. “Fine. You’re lucky you’re still a good debater.” Logan says with a smile.

A few minutes later, a knock at the door announces Paris’s arrival and at the sound, Rory and Logan both jump off the couch. Rory begins to walk over to the door, but then stops and puts a hand on Logan’s arm, and tells him to wait there. “Why? I’m pretty sure Paris will remember me.” Logan says, confused. “Yeah, but I didn’t exactly tell Paris that you were here.” Rory says, and runs towards the door while Logan widens his eyes at her. Paris was not exactly Logan’s #1 fan, and him being there might cause her to lash out.

“Hey Paris.” Rory says, opening the door on Paris and Doyle, both holding a suitcase. Before she opens the door all the way to let them in, she tries to come up with a reason as to why Logan was there. “Um Paris, before you go in, I just want to let you know that Logan is here.” “hmm” Paris says, raising her eyebrows before pushing past Rory. “Not Huntzberger again, Gilmore.” Doyle says, and Rory nods and responds with “sorry Doyle.” 

Rory turns around to find Paris walking past Logan without a glance to put her bag down in Holly’s room. Logan looks at her with a bewildered expression, clearly unsure of what to say. Doyle comes out from behind Logan and greets Logan with a smile and a handshake. 

“Um hi, Paris.” Logan says curtly when she walks into the small living room, unsure of what to say to her. “Logan, while I can’t say I’m thrilled to see you, your face does seem to be less annoying than when I saw you last.” She replies, titling her head slightly to the side. “Thanks, Paris… I guess.” Logan replies, looking over at Rory who appears to be holding back a laugh. 

Later that night, Rory and Logan are lying in Rory’s bed. They had caught up a little bit with Doyle and Paris and after a slight toothbrush debacle, all was well. Logan’s fright of Paris interrogating him had grown, but it had subsided substantially once he was in bed. 

“Did I ever tell you how Paris and I met?” Rory asks, turning to face him. “I don’t think so. You just told me that you guys met at Chilton, but I don’t think there were specifics involved.” “Well, it was my first day at Chilton, and it was not exactly going well.” Rory says, thinking about how her mom dressed in a tie-dye shirt, shorts, and cowboy boots when meeting Headmaster Charleston for the first time. “My mom showed up in a crazy outfit, but that’s beside the point.” Rory says, and Logan smiles at her. 

“After my mom showed up in that outfit and I met with the headmaster, I went to my first class and I realized just how behind I was, and there was this girl in my class and every question the teacher would ask, she would know the answer right away and it was driving me crazy.” “That would be Paris.” “Yes, that would be Paris, but I didn’t really know that yet.” Rory confirms. 

“After class, the teacher talked to me about the test, and after, Paris was standing in the hallway and she proceeded to tell me she knew who I was and asked me if I was going out for the newspaper.” “Sounds like Paris” “She also told me that she wanted to be valedictorian and next year she was going to be the editor of the paper.” “Clearly both of those things worked out well for her.” Logan says, knowing Rory had ended up being valedictorian and editor of the newspaper at Yale. 

“So after that interrogation,” “So you admit she interrogates.” Logan says with a grin. “Hush you.” Rory says, although she grins back at him in the darkness. “Anyways, after that meeting, I go to my locker, but it wouldn’t open so I was pulling on it really hard so it was, and when it finally did, I backed up right into Paris and her giant model project for history class. There was a moat with water and everything.” “Ouch, ace!” “Yeah, not the best start or my finest moment. Then, as it turns out, we were in the same history class.” “Yikes!” Logan says, wincing but smiling at Rory afterwards. 

“So you and Paris were enemies.” “I wouldn’t go that far.” “She hated you.” “Yeah, basically.” Rory admits. “I kinda hated her.” Rory admits once again. “But, then again, she was the first real scholastic competition I had ever had, and I don’t think I would’ve gone to Yale if she hadn’t hated me.” “Oh, Ace, now you’re getting sappy.” Logan says, pulling Rory into him. “I know, I’m sorry.” Rory says, allowing herself to melt into Logan’s arms. “But that is how I met the infamous Ms. Geller, so I don’t think her hatred for you can ever top the hatred she once had for me.” Rory says a few seconds later. “Yeah you’re right. I would never be so mean as to break someone’s giant project.” Logan says, kidding around. “Oh shut up.” Rory remarks back, lightly hitting Logan’s arm.


End file.
